Terrapin, in Rhinebeck, offers astonishing variety and value in a glittering setting.

Table Six, in Lenox, features a changing prix fixe meal in the refurbished Kemble Inn.

Berkshire County

Egremont, Massachusetts

John Andrews

Straddling the border of Berkshire and Columbia Counties, John Andrews has been a beacon in the culinary wilderness for more than two decades. Although chef/owner Dan Smith always offers specials based on seasonal ingredients, it’s hard for him to improve upon his regular, exquisitely eclectic menu—fried oysters with anchovy-mustard vinaigrette ($10), papardelle with wild boar ragu ($20), grilled hangar steak with potato gratin ($30.) Cozy in winter if you sit by the fireplace and refreshing in summer if you have a table overlooking the garden, John Andrews is a restaurant for all seasons and all personalities. If you’re not in the mood for a dining-room experience, the small bar has its own simple menu with yummy things like semolina-coated calamari ($9) and duck wings with blue cheese and celery ($8).

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Great Barrington, Massachusetts

Formerly 20 Railroad Street, it’s now owned by Great Barrington native Ben Downing and Laura Shack of Firefly in Lenox. Daily blackboard specials might include potato croquettes ($9), an appetizer served with bright romesco sauce, crumbles of Rawson Brook Farm chevre and a sprinkling of parsley. Other specials have included a fried chicken sandwich served with remoulade, bread and butter pickled peppers and a side of potato salad ($14) and a lamb sandwich boasting caper raisin puree and garlic yogurt on a brioche bun with mixed greens ($15). The mussels ($12) from the “Starters and Shared” section of the menu arrive in a towering heap, bathed in coconut curry, basil, cilantro, mint and scallions, served with toasted focaccia for mopping up the sweet and creamy broth. The poutine ($8) features house-cut potato frites, cheese curds, Guinness gravy and fresh herbs; the Southwestern poutine ($10) substitutes tomatillo salsa, pulled pork and cilantro for the cheese curds and gravy. There’s also a Reuben ($14) and a kale salad ($9) served with roasted grape tomatoes, creamy manchego dressing, Aleppo pepper and manchego tuile. Ten taps will keep the beer enthusiast happy, and craft cocktails will do the same for others. Read the full review here.

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Aegean Breeze

It’s not easy to find authentic ethnic eateries in our region, which is why Aegean Breeze is so refreshing. Chef/owner George Cami was born and raised in Greece and his menu is loaded with the foods of his childhood such as Melitzansoalata (roasted baby eggplant spread with garlic and feta cheese), Keftedes (meatballs in tomato sauce), and whole grilled fish like red snapper and striped bass. Make sure to reserve on Thursday nights when crowds descend for the weekly Lobster Special.

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Local and seasonal is the m.o. at Allium, (which took over the storefronts once occupied by the tragically wonderful Verdura and Due) so the menu reads a bit like a wine list: those aren’t just any turnips alongside that delicious duck breast on a bed of faro ($25), they’re Farm Girl Hakurei turnips, and don’t you forget it. In the city, such fussing about the provenance of produce seems twee. Here, we like seeing our farming neighbors duly credited, especially since the chef does such justice to their stuff. Some of the concoctions may sound a tad weird (roasted cod with mussels and Italian sausage ($25), followed by a blue hubbard brullee), but they work, as does the friendly young staff, so who’s arguing?

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Baba Louie’s

First, learn the code: When Baba Louie’s owner Paul Masiero (younger brother of Matt and Chris Masiero, co-owners of Guido’s Fresh Marketplace) says small, he means large; when he says large, he means ridiculous. A small salad here feeds four adults. The garnish, alone, on Dawn’s Delight ($8.50 small; $17.95 family size assumes a total lack of family planning) has enough gorgonzola, julienned pears, dried cranberries and roasted walnuts on the greens to fulfill the minimum daily requirement of every known nutrient. The sourdough pizzas are thin-and-crispy-crusted below, hearty on top. Riccardo’s Famosa ($10.50 small; $15.95 large) features, in addition to tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella, chevre, sundried tomatoes, asiago, calamata olives, roasted garlic, basil and parmesan. One large pie is plenty for four moderate eaters, as long as they’ve already taken the edge off with a “small” salad. The only thing that isn’t over-sized here is the check: two couples can get out for $35 or so per pair. And that includes a large carafe of the house red.

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Bizen Gourmet Japanese Cuisine

In the mid-90s, when Bizen, the Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar, first opened, it must have seemed like the last word in exotica—Japanese decor and real sushi chefs showing off their fancy blade-work in plain sight. Since then, much has changed on the culinary scene. The ubiquitous cheap sushi that’s sold in supermarkets makes that which was once so rarefied now seem routine. Other sophisticated restaurants have raised the bar in the Berkshires. And values have changed. Turns out there are not a lot of fish left in the sea, and even if there were, the nearest ocean is nearly 200 miles east—twice the locavore-sanctioned distance between food source and plate.

Yet Bizen (where the sushi is not cheap) thrives. On weekends, the place is packed, leaving an often overtaxed waitstaff to soothe a peckish public struggling to make sense of a menu that is nothing short of gargantuan. The Dinner Specials alone fill seven pages with such groaners as Viagra (boiled eel, giant clam, etc.) and Condoleezza Rice. So what’s the big draw? One theory: People who crave Japanese food—and it is addictive—are not really interested in variety, they just want their old favorites. And if they ignore the printed menu here and ask for them, they fill the bill. —Marilyn Bethany

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Cafe Adam, owned by the internationally-trained chef and Berkshire native Adam Zieminski, delivers. It bills itself as a brasserie. In addition to the good value that implies, the menu has plenty of impeccably-executed brasserie standards, such as boeuf Bourguignon, cassoulet, bouillabaisse Marseilles (at $22 their most popular dish, according to our genial waitress), and steak frites. Even the low-key-yet-skillful interior design nods to brasserie tradition, with firsts, wines and desserts scrawled on tall rectangles of chalkboard painted directly onto the walls. The management also justifiably claims a stake in New American Cuisine. There is a spirit of experimentation you’ll never find in a Paris brasserie, and what comes out of the kitchen is locally raised and grown “as much as possible,” with special effort invested in obtaining fresh fish. One appetizer of deep-fried Spanish onion with a yogurt-turmeric sauce was shared by five people and got ten thumbs up. The steak is offered at four price points, ranging from a $15 hache to a $28 tenderloin. We opted for the $19 hanger and were patting ourselves on the back. The profiteroles were perfect and, as promised, the crème brûlée was “just like Julia Child’s.”

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Located next door to The Meat Market, and owned by its proprietor, Jeremy Stanton (who’s been said to make the best burger in America), Camp Fire’s menu showcases the best seasonal ingredients. The Meat Market Burger ($13) is a half-pound, grass-fed patty served with cheddar, pickles and aioli on a challah bun with a side of hand-cut fries, and it’s delicious. The Reuben sandwich ($10) is the classic, served on grilled Berkshire Mountain Bakery bread, with a side of fries. Breakfast, served on weekends, offers the omelets and pancakes you’d expect, but also a minute steak and a roots veggie hash. Entrees include a sumac roast chicken, grilled pork chop, braised lamb and beef brisket. For those eschewing meat, there’s a grilled brook trout and a vegan plate. The fuss is minimal; the emphasis is on straight-ahead, locally-sourced food in a laid-back setting, and it’s becoming the talk of the town. Read full review here.

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Castle Street Cafe

On nights when there is a show at the Mahaiwe next door, Castle Street Cafe is reminiscent of Joe Allen, the venerable Broadway saloon. After 20 years, it still pulses with energy, and the staff knows enough to ask whether you are heading next door after dinner to make sure you order dishes that the kitchen can fire up promptly. But even on nights when the theater is dark, Castle Street has a bar crowd that makes the restaurant buzz and there is live jazz on most Saturday nights. Chef Michael Ballon offers up a menu that feels like a compilation of greatest hits so it’s always hard to choose what to order, but he’s especially adept with fish dishes like salmon with grilled asparagus ($26) and tortilla crusted filet of sole with citrus salsa ($21). The bar menu offers up hearty sandwiches—felafel for vegetarians ($11) and a half-pound burger ($11) that is served with addictive shoestring fries.

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Elixir, a tiny café tucked in next to the Triplex Cinema, is a museum of Mason jars and glass bottles, all filled with wildflowers, herbs and liquids at varying stages of “tincturing” and fermentation. Owner/chef/herbalist Nancy Lee keeps the meat-free menu simple and the flavors complex: delicious teas, creamy and authentic hummus with vegetables, potato leek soup, an amazing tempeh Reuben, jasmine rice with Thai butternut curry. And for dessert: strawberry shortcake with maple whipped cream — all totally fresh. Fudge made with currants, almonds, coconut sugar and drizzled with a honey lavender sauce also is a strong contender for the perfect meal-ender. Come hungry, leave sated and feeling completely renewed.

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GB Eats

Chef Pierre Cum and his wife, Candice Rischner, have updated face of the former Neighborhood Diner into GB Eats. The spot is now turning out plate after plate of gorgeously presented food that reflects a daring foray into myriad regions while locally sourcing ingredients wherever possible; this marriage has resulted in some seriously creative dishes that run the gamut from traditional to edgy.

On a recent Saturday morning, there is a steady stream of buttermilk pancakes ($7.50) coming from the kitchen, served with pure maple syrup from the Catskills and a house-made blueberry compote. The kale breakfast salad ($9) is a favorite, served with bacon, white cheddar and house-made maple balsamic dressing; two variations on Eggs Benedict, one with house-made crab cakes ($12) and the other with house-made French potato cakes as a base ($10), boast the additions of avocado and arugula. My favorite barista/server, Michael, enthusiastically suggests the shakshuka ($10), a traditional North African dish that was adopted by the Israelis. It comes in a cast-iron skillet brimming with three eggs poached in stewed tomatoes, bell peppers, potatoes and feta cheese with a side of toasted ciabatta.

There are some equally interesting lunch/dinner items to choose from. The chopped cobb salad ($12) is a refreshing twist on the classic and features grilled antibiotic- and hormone-free chicken breast with bacon, apples, smoked gouda, red onion and boiled eggs. There is a grilled brisket sandwich ($11), house made with Black Angus beef, and a Berkshire melt ($10) featuring fresh mozzarella, avocado, tomato and basil pesto on grilled Berkshire Mountain Bakery sourdough. In addition to two takes on a burger, the pork banh mi ($10), crab cake Po Boy ($11) and Cali BLT ($10) reflect Cum and Rischner’s love of travel and desire to keep up with what’s new on the food scene. Read the full review.

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Haven Cafe and Bakery

We’ve always depended on the cafe/bakery Haven in Lenox for satiating both tastes and timing: it’s both a breakfast and lunch place that is a satisfying culinary experience early, and all day, and now there one in Great Barrington, too. The food is dependably superb, with delicious dishes such as grilled polenta (three triangles topped with basil pesto, roasted shiitake mushrooms, onion confit and goat cheese, $14.50) or Croque Monsieur on farm bread with the special twist of pears ($12.50). In addition to the regular reliable menu items, daily specials on the days we dropped in were two pumpkin pancakes with toasted pepitas ($10) and a scrambled burrito with turkey sausage, cheddar cheese, and tomatillo ($12), both the combo of comfy and challenging . A baby arugula and faro salad ($10.75) with heirloom tomatoes was a delicate mix of the slightly bitter spring flavors complementing the nutty faro and sweetness of the tomatoes. A breakfast burrito of scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese and spinach, all wrapped in a grilled flour tortilla ($9.50), came with eggs moist but not soggy and all spiced up with layers of baby spinach and a zingy puree of avocado and tomatillo. With Haven’s two locations, there’s now twice the opportunity to enjoy owner Shelly Williams’ beloved community cafe.
Haven Cafe and Bakery

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Patisserie Lenox on Main Street in Great Barrington, a newer satellite of the Lenox store, is as inviting as its mother ship. Owners Jean Yves Bougouin (whose confections have been on the lips of Julia Child and Raquel Welch) and his wife Yulia are veterans of the pastry scene. Their coffee drinks are strong and frothy ($4 & up), but the real treasure here is the pastry case full of French macarons in every color, fluffy mille-feuille, chocolate-drizzled raspberry croissants, fruit-glazed pannacotta and much more ($2.50 & up). An ever-changing, fresh assortment of hardier breakfast and lunch fare includes delicious quiche with a side of organic greens ($10), brioche sandwiches including a Croque Monsieur, and daily soup specials ($6/bowl) served with brioche toast. On a recent visit, our reviewer was smitten with a bowl of borscht, full of tender chopped beets in their own juice, combined (but not wholly blended) with chopped hard-boiled eggs, fresh dill, scallions, crisp cucumbers, and just a hint of pepper.

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Prairie Whale

Lots of restaurants in the RI region profess to be farm-to-table. Prairie Whale (formerly called Bell & Anchor), a new restaurant brought to us by the formerly Brooklyn-based star restaurateur Mark Firth, has joined the fray. That it takes the combined efforts of three talented cooks, plus the owner’s tireless dedication to sourcing local ingredients, explains why locavore perfection proves to be such an achievement. Peaceful, inclusive, and romantic, the restaurant has a menu with fresh, seasonal and locally sourced ingredients. Brunch and lunch options include seasonal roasted squash omelets ($12), polenta with homemade sausage ($14), and quiche with caramelized onion and goat cheese ($12). Lunch might be a light bean and kale soup, also on the dinner menu as a starter ($7), or a French dip sandwich ($14), and kale salad with radish, grand padano and garlic chips ($9). While there are other vegetable options, dinner is meat-eater focused: steak tartare ($14) and charcuterie plates ($14) for starters; main courses include first-rate grass-fed cheeseburgers and fries with homemade mayonnaise ($14), beef stew ($22), chicken pot pie ($19), brick chicken with radish and kale ($22), and New York strip steak with potato gratin ($34). Desserts hit the spot and are perfect to share, including a chocolate caramel tart and apple gallette ($8). From families to single twenty-somethings, anyone can come for dinner and cozy up in a corner booth or at a family style table. Or perch yourself at the bar for a bite and/ or an evening of drinks.On Sunday nights, foot-stomping local folk bands such as Hunger Mountain perform live while a roaring fire blazes from a wood burning stove all season long.

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The Bistro Box

There are those places that are just cursed. You know the kind. Switches hands every 1 to 3 years, nobody really knows what kind of food they serve anymore. Happily, one of those “cursed” eatery locations, the summer hot dog shack along Route 7, has broken that curse. The Bistro Box, true to its name, is a roadside eatery that offers up fresh, homemade, hard-working picnic food. It’s a place you can take a lunch break or where you can proudly take a date for a vintage-inspired evening sitting under a pine grove enjoying the company of true love and damn tasty onion rings. The Bistro Box has wholesome, actual good food made from real ingredients (not pre-frozen, pre-packaged imposters). The onion rings,for example, are fresh, dipped in a golden batter with a hint of cornmeal, lightly fried and served with a ketchup aioli that we couldn’t get enough of. Fried dill pickles, same signature batter with a homemade buttermilk ranch dip. The menu also includes burgers and dogs, paninis, hand-cut fries (lots of choices like garlic and fresh herbs, parmesan and truffle oil, chili cheese), cold-brewed coffee, savory salads, and for starving, newly minted vegetarians, the falafel burger: a homemade chickpea patty topped with crispy “quick” pickles and red pepper feta spread. The food is crisp, the portions are perfect, and everything is reasonably priced (nothing more than $8). —Nichole Dupont

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Xicohténcatl

First the pronunciation: Shi Ko TEN cat. Now, let’s sort out the Mexican restaurant thing. Pretty much everybody loves some kind of Mexican food, and the intensity with which they love their kind, is often a measure of how much they hate every other. Which is to say, all Mexican restaurants are controversial. Whenever we say something nice about one, a basher is waiting to pounce. So how to be fair? What you will get at Xichohténcatl is ebullient service and ambiance; fresh-cut, if somewhat timid, salsa and guacamole with chips that taste homemade; and Margaritas made with fresh juice. Nice start. What you will not get is groundbreaking Mexican cuisine made with exceptional finesse from superior ingredients. This is a cheerful, inexpensive (if you lay off the $8 - $13 Margaritas), noisy restaurant and bar, a fun place for families and groups, and a perfectly serviceable spot for couples, as long as they sit on the patio or porch, away from the din. And as long as they don’t expect their $16 entree to be as thrilling as one that elsewhere would cost twice as much. —Marilyn Bethany

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Housatonic, Massachusetts

“One of our goals is to have the best burger in the Berkshires,” said Leland Kent, one of the owners of the reconstituted Brick House Pub in Housatonic. Along with John Flynn and Mark Cailoa, they launched Brick House 2.0 and have kept it a neighborhood saloon with live music on weekends where you could watch a game on a Sunday afternoon. Their great burger remains one of the best in the region: the Five Alarm Burger ($13),with jalapeno Monterey Jack cheese, pickled jalapenos and Sriracha mayo is extraordinarily delicious. All the thick, charred burgers (which come with a pile of addictive hand-cut fries) are made from NEFF (Northeast Family Farms) beef and are served on a sesame roll that’s sturdy enough to not fall apart but not too big to fit in your mouth. The rolls comes from Berkshire Mountain Bakery down the street, as does the dough for the sensational thin crust pizzas ($12-$14 for the 10-inch small and $15-$20 for the 16-inch large). The menu also features artisanal renditions of classics like House Nachos ($11), Truffle Fries ($8), House-Made Loaded Potato Skins ($10) and a dozen wings ($12) bathed in a choice of sauces: classic hot, chipotle barbecue, garlic parmesan or Asian sweet chili. The pub offers 12 beers on tap including a craft cider and craft beers from micro-breweries across the US as well as a unique wine menu and a full bar.

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People have been waiting anxiously for a neighborhood take out/sit down/coffee spot since the former Corner Market closed its doors last year. The Housie Market Café is part of a petit renaissance happening in the little hamlet along the river, Owner Amy Hagerty has created a neighborhood hangout with her unique creations like the peanut butter kimchi sandwich ($5.50), the polenta egg bowl ($8) and the roast ‘beast’ sandwich (with braised kale and horseradish mayo, $8). Don’t miss the Diamond in the Rough muffin ($6.25), worth every penny for the muffin with a hard-boiled egg in the middle. Made with buttermilk, it eats more like a meal than a snack, laden with asiago, cheddar and parmesan as well as chives and salty bits of bacon, served with a side of smooth house-made salsa for dipping. The muffin is a savory symbol of what Hagerty and her staff prepare every day for their hungry patrons: home cooking with a twist. Instead of lettuce, there is arugula, instead of bologna there is olive tapenade, instead of blueberry muffins there is the diamond. “You can’t get this stuff at a restaurant,” Hagerty insists. That’s why you go to the Housie Market Cafe.

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Pleasant & Main

Pleasant & Main (on the corner of, well, you guessed it) in Housatonic, MA is a like a pirate’s treasure chest; the outside is unassuming, but once you open it up you realize you’ve struck gold. High-ceilinged, red-walled and sprawling, the café has an old-timey ambience. The wide-open dining room is flanked on either end by massive wooden shelves full of collectibles (most for sale) and natural light floods through a giant stained glass window in the front. The menu is unpretentious; a daily offering of veggie quiche (with a side of fresh greens) delights with a light crust, the eggs Florentine is topped with a healthy dollop of classic hollandaise that melts in the mouth. The croissants are perfect and buttery and the coffee — be it espresso, latte, cappuccino – is never bitter and always perfectly hot. The lunch lineup includes sandwiches, burgers and salads, along with European options like savory ratatouille crepes and Croque Monsieur. Veteran restaurateur Craig Bero, who spent the last 35 years on the food scene in Manhattan, and longtime chef Sixto Rodriguez also dish up community suppers Thursday – Saturday nights, with a simple menu that rotates with the chef’s creativity and Mother Nature’s palate, and may include dishes like beef pot roast with a burgundy gravy, lamb shepherd’s pie or orange sunshine cake.

1063 Main Street, Housatonic, MA
(413) 274-6303
Open for breakfast and lunch Tuesday through Sunday, with dinner offered Thursday through Saturday. Closed Mondays.

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Lee, Massachusetts

When husband-and-wife team, chef Franck Tessier and pastry chef Rachel Portnoy, bought a funky building on Main Street in 2005, their intention was clearly not to open a chic restaurant. Rather, with Chez Nous, they were aiming at the sort of French bistro that astonishes travelers throughout provincial France. One may enter with a touch of trepidation; how can a place this modest be any good? Then food and service make misgivings melt. Using local, seasonal ingredients whenever possible, they turn out perfect bistro classics and dishes of their own invention (an admirably browned-yet-still-satiny piece of cod on a bed of saffrony lemon-lobster risotto, $24.95) at unbeatable prices. A pretty French waitress (how many nieces can Franck have?) hovers, making sure glasses are refilled and needs are met. The only thing to jar the illusion that one is in La France profonde? The vegetarian options are more than an afterthought, as Rachel cops to that bias herself. —Marilyn Bethany

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Pho Saigon

Pho Saigon, a small and simple Vietnamese restaurant on a side street in downtown Lee, isn’t one of those restaurants that makes for an evening’s entertainment. But luckily, it is a great place to stop after shopping at the Lee Outlets or on your way to nearby Shakespeare & Company or the Berkshire Theatre Festival. You would be seriously remiss if you did not order the appetizer crepe, and it’s hard to imagine a soul that would not be warmed by a meal-sized bowl of spicy beef-and-lemongrass soup with vermicelli (photo) or chicken-and-shrimp noodle soup (both $9.95) which are served with plates of cool, freshcondiments—bean sprouts, fresh basil, sliced lime and chile peppers. And there’s large selection of sauteed noodle dishes and grilled meats ($10.95 to $19.95) and vegetarian entrees so even finicky eaters should find something they want to order.

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Lenox, Massachusetts

There’s nothing unctious, hokey, or mechanically professional about the welcome you receive at Alta. The experienced staff here act as if they are enjoying themselves and hope that you will too. And why should you not? Alta serves sophisticated food and wine without pretension at prices that are more than fair. Chef Thierry Breard and general manager Aurelien Telle are both French, and it shows the work. The menu features such bistro classics as duck a l’orange with mashed potatoes and roasted fennel ($28) and pan-roasted chicken au jus, with mashed potatoes and sautéed spinach ($21). The only thing on the plate of bernaise-sauced filet mignon with braised endive that might raise an eyebrow on the Rue du Bac? A few sweet potato slices tossed in among the whites in the accompanying gratin ($27). Alta offers 24 (not all French) wines by the glass, ranging from $6 to $11. A flight of three for tasting is $10. At night, there is a bar menu (a smoked salmon plate with capers, lemon, arugula, crostinis, and dill whipped cream, $10), and they also serve lunch (a panini of fried haddock with remoulade, shredded lettuce and tomato, $12).

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You’ve gotta love a high-end Berkshires restaurant that keeps the bar open ‘til 1 a.m. Not that one would ever avail herself of the privilege. But it strikes a blow for a brand of fun that’s thin on the ground around here. Berkshire-eans tend to expect too much of Bistro Zinc. When it opened in 1999, the food was a revelation. Since then, it’s been coasting, and the competition has wised up. But if you stick to bistro fare—the steak with perfect frites ($29—if you don’t count the extra $5 they tack on for the side of spinach or haricots vertes), the astonishing 8-ounce burger on a plate piled high with onion rings, French fries and tempura-fried green beans ($18), the roasted trout ($24)—you can have a fine time here. Lunch in the bright dining room is even better; same burger (alas, minus the tempura beans) is $5 less. A word about specials: A special can be something seasonal and lovely, such as soft-shell crab; or it can be experimental, a dish the chef isn’t sure even he or she is going to like. My advice: if you’re risk-averse, steer clear of specials. Pheasant stark naked except for the cabbage leaf it steamed in ($28)? Note to chef: sauce is pheasant’s raison d’etre.

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For those of us who like to dine after we’ve seen a movie, play or concert, Brava is a revelation—a place to eat well and unwind until midnight in downtown Lenox. A wine bar in the European tradition, Brava offers an extensive assortment of craft beers and wines by the glass as well as nibbles like marinated olives or Marcona almonds ($3 each) or more substantial fare like fragrant grilled lamb chops with minted yogurt ($15) or shrimp with garlic ($12). You can build your own cheese and charcuterie plates ($17/$28) and select from a menu that features several raw cow’s milk cheeses made in the USA. To make sure Brava was not seen as elitist or precious, owner Whitney Asher cleverly put hearty hand-made pizzas — with combinations like prosciutto, fontina, ricotta and arugula — on the menu ($13 - $15), that make the bar a family-friendly destination in the early evening. —Dan Shaw

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Cafe Lucia

People who love Cafe Lucia, and they are legion, return again and again because of the warm welcome and good service they know they will receive, because of the interesting wine list, and because the Italian food is so authentic. People who don’t love it take exception to paying so much (only one pasta under $20; only one entree under $30, with the osso buco topping the price list at $39) for such predictable (just another word for “authentic,” after all) fare, served in a setting that, at best, can be described as pleasant and inoffensive. In warm weather, the outdoor seating is a plus.

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Nudel

It’s rare that a restaurant with serious culinary ambitions is unpretentious and affordable, which is why Nudel is such a welcome addition to the Berkshires. In only two months, it has developed a zealous coterie of fans who consider it the most thrilling dining experience around. Chef/owner Bjorn Somlo offers reasonably-priced lunch items such as a grilled cheese sandwich or a bowl of penne for $6. His menu is seasonally inspired and ever-changing and gets more ambitious in the evening. He appeals to foodies who are willing to go with the flow and want to experiment along with the chef who comes up with new dishes every day such as veal and pheasant lasagna with Tuscan kale, fried onions and ricotta; braised beef and garlic with Dijon spaetzle, egg drop; fluke tartare with pickled muskmelon and toasted sesame. On a recent evening, we were awed by grits with spicy sausage and lentils ($15) and beef “scrapple” with figs and pickles ($9). And would anyone else but Bjorn have the chutzpah to offer a special eight-course all-duck tasting menu ($55) on a random Tuesday night? You can watch the chef work his magic every step of the way if you take a seat at the counter with its full view of the open kitchen. —Dan Shaw

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Olde Heritage Tavern

Depending on your mood, Lenox can be utterly charming or unbearably la-di-da. When you want no-nonsense food in a no-nonsense environment, the Olde Heritage Tavern provides an ungentrified dining experience in the center of town. Inside, the horseshoe bar is ringed with regulars who seem to represent a cross-section of Lenox’s year-round population. On a nice day, the tables outside offer a front-row view of the sidewalk scene. While soup and salad sounds like a light meal, it’s hearty one here: the milky New England Clam Chowder ($3.99) comes in an oversize mug and the spinach salad ($8.49) is loaded with walnuts, bacon, hard boiled eggs and blue cheese. The burger ($7.49) is exactly what you expect from a saloon and the fish and chips are light and flaky. Best of all, you can get always get a drink here early or late in the day. —Dan Shaw

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Named in reference to the Algonquin Round Table of lore, this restaurant in the beautifully refurbished Kemble Inn is a special addition to the eating experience in the area. Chef Ron Reda, who presided over the White House mess when President Clinton was in office, has come up with a changing prix fixe, three-course meal that comes to $53, with offerings such as a local asparagus soup, duck leg confit, and key lime pot de crème, each of which had a purity of flavor that comes with using great ingredients and presenting them in an elegant way. A spring vegetable soup served the evening we were there was fresh and full of herbal flavors and zest; the crab cake was full of crumbly crab chunks balanced with arugula salad and a rich tomato jam. For main courses, a pan-seared organic salmon and grilled lamb loin chop came out perfectly: The chop, accompanied by a green lentil ragout, was hearty and tender, the lamb full of flavor. I chose a glass of the Cantena Malbec from Argentina ($11.00) to go with it; a hearty red well matched to the meat. A bottle of the Parducci Chardonnay from California was well priced for its quality ($52). For dessert, a mini bundt cake swathed in strawberry and blueberry flavored fresh “berry” cream and a mocha ganache Napoleon were worth risking triple bypass surgery for.—Elizabeth Goldfarb Richardson

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You may not be the sort of person who would normally dine or stay at Wheatleigh, where the prix-fixe dinner is $125 and the rooms begin at $715. But you can certainly be the sort of person who indulges in a soothing lunch in Wheatleigh’s Library, where an extremely lovely plate of smoked salmon, goat cheese, artichokes and rosemary crackers costs $15 and a dish of artichoke-and-ricotta raviloli with mushrooms and parmesan is $19. Every detail is exquisite, and you’ll definitely ask for seconds of the authentic crusty baguette and sweet butter that is served with your meal. For dessert, share a sampling of intensely flavored house-made ice creams and sorbets ($9). Sitting by the window in this Italianate villa that has been beautifully restored and furnished with spare modern furniture by Tsao & McKown Architects, you’ll receive the royal treatment no matter who you are. —Dan Shaw

Hawthorne Rd., Lenox, MA
(413) 637-0610
Lunch daily: noon - 2 p.m.

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New Marlborough, Massachusetts

What began as a simple family tradition — Josh Irwin crafting tacos for up to 25 friends and extended family members on any given week — quickly became a South County destination once word got out. Taco Tuesdays remains, but for the rest of the week Cantina 229 showcases world fare made local, with much of the produce and meat coming right from the Irwin farm. Small plates include rillette croquettes ($12), crispy pulled pork piled atop pickles, cilantro aioli and mustard greens followed with beet tartine ($10), a base of Berkshire Mountain Bakery olive bread, roasted red and golden beets, Rawson Brook chevre and black pesto. Irwin’s training in southeast Asia shows in the pork and ginger dumplings ($10), made with Irwin’s own pork served with sesame and scallion dipping sauce. Pa jun ($8), is a crisp leek, scallion and chive pancake’ bibimbap ($15), is a melange of crispy rice, marinated vegetables, kimchi, fried egg, crispy shallots, bap hot sauce and bulgogi beef. The reviewer’s favorite was favorite was a diminutive serving of the MA striped bass entree ($24) served with a bright green basil spaetzle from the kitchen garden, baby squash and buttered garlic scapes. The atmosphere is lively and convivial yet intimate. We hear the place is hopping, so best make reservations. Read the full review here.

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Old Inn on the Green

With intimate dining rooms illuminated only by candlelight (and warmed by five crackling fireplaces in the winter), the Old Inn has a romantic Masterpiece Theatre ambiance, which is one of the reasons the Old Inn is many people’s favorite restaurant in the Berkshires. Thankfully, there is nothing old-fashioned about chef/owner Peter Platt’s audacious contemporary cuisine that satisfies even the most demanding foodies. The $35 prix-fixe specials on Wednesday and Thursday nights are as appetizing as they are affordable.

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North Adams, Massachusetts

Jack’s Hot Dog Stand

Jack’s Hot Dog Stand—a sliver of a lunch counter that’s been around since 1917—gives you a palpable sense of North Adams’s industrial past. It’s definitely more Edward Hopper than Norman Rockwell. Make sure to order the hot dog ($.95) with fried peppers and onions ($.40), and you’ll wonder why anyone bothers to eat a hot dog with any other toppings. The tasty little hamburgers ($.95) and cheeseburgers ($1.20) are—amazingly—handmade from fresh meat and served on warm rolls that come out of an ancient steamer built into the counter. And the crisp onion rings ($1.50) are exactly what you’d hope for from a joint like that was serving fast food long before McDonald’s. You can get orders to go, but half the fun of Jack’s is sitting on a stool and watching the show behind the counter. —Dan Shaw

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PUBLIC eat + drink is a stylish but unassuming American-style bistro that is a popular nightspot in the high season, and a warm haven for the locals on chilly winter evenings. The aesthetic is sleek and almost accidentally chic, with an affordable but very carefully selected array of wines, beer and creative cocktails. The menu includes sections dedicated to sandwiches, burgers, pasta and small plates — like the fish taco, or a chicken sandwich topped with cheddar cheese and apple slices. The generous house salad gussies up greens with cranberries, chevre and toasted almonds. If you ask for bread, you’ll receive a crusty, warm baguette. No single item on the menu breaks the $20 mark. (Also check out PUBLIC’s new sister eatery in Pittsfield, District Kitchen & Bar).

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Pittsfield, Massachusetts

If you’re familiar with Public eat + drink, District’s sister eatery in North Adams, then District’s menu will be like an old friend. It’s broken up into sections: smalls, mids, bigs, sides and desserts. It’s difficult to decided because everything looks so good, and like the signature cocktails, so creative. Our reviewer raved about the cheese board ($16), which comes with creamy local cheeses—some aged, some soft, some potent—and accompanying condiments of crisp lemon onions, garlic jam and cherry compote. She also enjoyed the tempura battered mixed mushrooms with chipotle aioli ($10), along with the seared duck breast and hearty, fall-off-the-bone short rib ($14) glazed with cider and flanked by a squash gratin from the “bigs” area of the menu.

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Most tourist destination dining facilities are lackluster; an inevitable consequence of feeding a captive clientele. Not so the Harvest Café at Hancock Shaker Village, which, fortunately, may be accessed without paying an entrance fee. In season, Michael Roller, former executive chef at Blantyre in Lenox, uses food from the Village farms to make some of the best salads (i.e., baby spinach, hickory-smoked bacon, hard-boiled eggs, sliced mushrooms, red onion and croutons with a Dijon-herb vinaigrette; $5.95) and sandwiches (an open-faced roast beef on grilled farmer’s bread with a Shaker mushroom sauce, crispy shallots and mesclun greens, $6.75) around. This is a pleasantly surprising place to meet friends for breakfast, lunch or tea—the confections, many based on traditional Shaker recipes (blueberry pudding with apricot ice cream) are heavenly. —Marilyn Bethany

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“I feel like I’m in an episode of The Sopranos,” said my friend who grew up in New Jersey and thus knows from whence she speaks. She was not suggesting that Mazzeo’s is a mob hangout. Rather, she was acknowledging that this enormous restaurant embraces you with a hearty Italian-American gemütlichkeit. Though it’s the size of a small cruise ship, Mazzeo’s feels like a mom-and-pop restaurant, and the Mazzeo clan works hard to make all their guests feel like part of the family. The more-than-generous antipasto plate ($12) features fluffy fresh mozzarella, tangy marinated peppers, salami, mortadella and olives, which can be shared by 3 or 4 hungry people. All the main courses, including pastas, come with a choice of soup or salad, and you soon understand why so many folks are leaving with doggie bags: the portions are very generous. Most dishes are robust, including the garlicky linguine with white clam sauce ($22), the fettuccine with veal Bolognese ($20) and Bistecca Michele, a grilled marinated New York Sirloin topped with succulent roasted red peppers, capers and caramelized onions ($27). Mazzeo’s is the kind of place that would be perfect for an old-fashioned Sunday dinner, except it’s closed on Sundays! Apparently, the Mazzeos reserve that day for dining at home with their family. —Dan Shaw

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Local financial advisor Yuki Cohen has surrounded herself with a helpful and happy staff at her newest venture, Methuselah Bar and Lounge. Manager Caitlin Harrison, a level-one sommelier, has stocked the bar with organic wines that use minimal additives and preservatives, 16 beers on tap that change seasonally, and a full bar featuring specialty cocktails and surprise concoctions. The tapas menu was created by Lina Aliberti-Paccaud, owner of the former Spigalina restaurant in Lenox, along with co-chef Gabe Lloyd from How We Roll, and Amber Hemenway. Standout menu items include Turkish Delight, a colorful plate of carrot hummus, beet tzatziki, edamame and feta spread (difficult to pick a favorite among the three, because they’re all so good) arranged around a plate of homemade pita chips ($10); Pigs in a Blanket, which features Red Apple Butchers’ brats and Hosta Hill crimson kraut in a croissant-like puff pastry, served with grainy mustard on the side ($8); and Chicken Tacos or Chile Pork Carnitas ($10 for two/$18 for four). Cheese and charcuterie plates, salads and sandwiches including the popular Cubano-style Pork with slow-roasted pork loin, prosciutto and gruyere ($10) round out the menu. Desserts include Flourless Chocolate Chambord Cake with raspberries and chantilly cream, or the Goat’s Milk Cheesecake with seasonal fruit salad (both $8), as well as Villa Dolce Gelato and assorted sorbets ($4-$6).

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Mission Bar + Tapas

It’s not hyperbole to say that Mission Bar + Tapas revolutionized nightlife in Pittsfield. If you’re looking for a spot for a late supper after a play, movie or concert downown, head to Mission and you can take your time because the kitchen stays open until midnight seven days a week, which really is owner Jim Benson’s idea of community service. “I want Pittsfield to be the type of small city that I want to live in, which means being able to eat something good late at night,” says Benson, who recently started serving lunch at Mission, too. No matter what you’re craving, you will find more than few things that will satisfy your hunger because Benson has put together a menu of yummy things like roast eggplant dip ($6), cheeseburger or salmon BLT sliders ($6), bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with blue cheese ($6), french fries ($3) fried calamari ($8) and garlic shrimp ($9). At this time of year, you can sit at one of the cafe tables on North Street and watch the carnival of passersby that gives Pittsfield its quirky, urban edge, or sit inside amongst more twentysomethings than you normally see in a Berkshire restaurant and listen to live music. (Mission has its own quirks like no telephone and no mixed drinks—wine and beer only.) No matter. Mission makes you believe, as Benson certainly does, in the vitality of Pittsfield. —Dan Shaw

438 North St., Pittsfield, MA
No phone.
Daily: noon - midnight

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Shiro Sushi Lounge

Like any all-American Japanese restaurant, Shiro, which opened recently across the street from the Beacon Cinema, has all sorts of sushi to accommodate people who don’t really like raw fish. such as the Philadelphia Roll (smoked salmon, cream cheese, and scallion; $6.50) and the Lobster Tempura Roll (lobster, scallion, avocado and caviar; $16.95). If you are craving sushi or sashimi, everything you order will be presented with refined style by friendly, attentive waitresses. Shiro also offers a greatest hits selection of entrees—shrimp-and-vegetable tempura ($17.95), chicken yakitori ($15.95), salmon teriyaki ($17.95), beef negimaki ($18.95) pork katsu ($15.95)—and bento box lunch specials ($6.95 -$9.95) on weekdays. (Alas, it does not have a hibachi grill like its outpost in Great Barrington.) The restaurant wants to be a family-friendly, neighborhood restaurant: On a recent night, it very happily served a five-year-old girl the all-American strawberry shortcake ablaze with birthday candles that her mother had made at home and delivered to the kitchen before dinner. —Dan Shaw

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The Lantern Bar & Grill

Of all the burger joints in our region, is there any place more authentic—or with a better neon sign—than The Lantern? A cross between a saloon and a luncheonette, it has been a reassuring presence in Pittsfield since 1926, a democratic dining spot where everyone can afford the six-ounce charred cheeseburger ($4.25) or grilled cheese with tomato ($3.75). “Everyone I take there says the same thing—it has the best grilled cheese sandwich they ever tasted!” says Tony-winning composer William Finn, who runs Barrington Stage’s Musical Theater Lab around the corner. You can also get a Greek salad or an omelette, but why would you want to pass up a perfect burger? The Lantern’s steadfast, old-fashioned character extends to its hours: Lamentably, the Lantern is dark on Sundays.

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With the arrival of Vong’s, the long wait for a Thai restaurant in Pittsfield is officially over, and its owner, restaurateur Jae Chung, has definitely hit the sweet spot. While his eponymous Jae’s Asian Bistro in Lenox (which will soon be moving to Pittsfield, as well) is an eclectic mix of Pan-Asian cuisines, Vong’s is primarily Thai with a sprinkling of Vietnamese dishes. A full cocktail menu of 20 Thai-inspired libations ($9-$10) includes a Blue Thai mojito Thai-style bourbon. (And yes, there is a scorpion bowl.) In addition to a large assortment of appetizers ($5.95-$14.95), the specialty of the house is Vong’s Wing, ($8.95) a deep-fried chicken wing stuffed with glass noodles and vegetables, served with a sweet chili sauce. The Panang Curry with shrimp ($13.95) presents a contrast of vibrant red and green peppers, verdant string beans, and bright carrots against the white plate with vegetables and shrimp floated in the fiery curry sauce. There’s a large assortment of entrees featuring seafood, noodles, fried rice, curries, vegetarian options, house specialties and a back page for Vietnamese dishes, starting at $12.95 and topping out at $15.95 with Vong’s Duck. The pho, Dac Biet Xe Lua ($13.95) is a mix of steak, beef, meatball, brisket, flank, tendon, shrimp and rice noodles floated in a huge bowl of rich, savory broth.

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Sheffield, Massachusetts

The Stagecoach Tavern

As you drive down pitch-black Route 41 in Sheffield, MA, you see the twinkling lights outside the venerable Stagecoach Tavern and you wonder if it’s a mirage. As you head toward the front door, you feel as if you’ve stepped onto a soundstage at MGM circa 1941, where they are shooting a movie set at a quintessential New England tavern. Your heart skips a beat when you walk inside, because this restaurant is cozy, quirky and authentic with a crackling wood-burning fireplace. Thankfully, the food is contemporary county cuisine and the chef uses local, organic ingredients whenever possible. The salads ($6 - $7) are large and fresh, the grilled hangar steak ($29) is intensely flavorful and comes with a choice of two sides such as olive oil smashed potatoes, creamed spinach and roasted mushrooms. One regular we know skips the entrees entirely and makes a meal of the sides.

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South Egremont, Massachusetts

Sited by a rushing creek in a converted 1832 flour mill, this reliable Berkshire perennial has the bona fides to play up the old Ye Olde. Yet on this and every other front, there’s evidence at The Old Mill of admirable Yankee restraint. The decor, while pleasant, isn’t straining for affect; the chef, while clearly up on the latest, delivers it pretension-free (Soup of Yesterday, $7, is both witty and wise). Diners even get the chance to indulge in old-fashioned thrift: An ample first-course salad is included with every entrée. These range from sauteed scallops with capelliini, garlic white wine, cherry tomatoes and crispy smoked bacon, $29; panko-crusted sweet-potato quinoa cake, roasted portobello, grilled onion, goat cheese and romesco, $20, to grilled rib lamb chops with rosemary pommes Anna and dried fruit compote, $34. And for dessert, we recommend the coffee ice cream sundae, $9.

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Southfield, Massachusetts

Southfield Store

The Berkshire Babe was in heaven. “Wow!“ she said. “This is the best mole I’ve ever had—it’s sweet, smoky, spicy, with layers of flavors. It gets better with every bite.“ the mole, which was served with an astonishingly juicy and flavorful pork tenderloin ($20), is on the menu every Thursday when the Southfield Store has its Oaxacan Night. Since last year, the Southfield Store—an old general store that was gentrified in restrained Martha Stewart-style by a previous owner—has been owned by Peter Platt and Meredith Kennard of the redoubtable Old Inn on the Green. Now, they’ve let their chef—Gustavo A. Perez who worked with Peter at Wheatleigh years ago—cook the food of his native state on Thursday nights. “It’s hard to find real Mexican food in the Berkshires,“ says Perez, who makes every taco and tostado to order. “That’s why the food comes out slow, but I think it’s worth it,“ he says. It certainly is.

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Stockbridge, Massachusetts

Red Lion Inn

“There is something so reassuring about this dining room,” said my friend the Baltimore Brahmin. He admired the faded flowered wallpaper that whispers Great Aunt Alice, the bud vases filled with fresh Christmas bouquets of holly and mini pinecones, the handsome hotel silver, and the pewter chargers engraved “Red Lion Inn 1773” set on the snowy white tablecloths. Dinner at the Red Lion Inn manages to be New England past, present, and future. The bowl of clam chowder ($7), which is served with a paper doily underneath like every proper restaurant used to do, tastes just like Cape Cod. An appetizer of five-spice seared tuna ($12) proves that chef Brian Alberg has managed the balancing act of creating modern dishes without jettisoning tradition. Certainly, the handsome prime rib ($32)—two “thin” but hefty slices—served with a jumbo popover, sauteed vegetables and a nostalgic baked potato with sour cream is a comforting, all-American meal. But there’s lighter fare with a contemporary sensibility such as barbecued Scottish salmon with mashed potatoes and collard greens ($27). Chef Alberg sources as much as he can from local farms and producers and his stunning “flight” of artisan cheeses is awesomely au courant. Each cheese is paired with a sweet or savory: Old Chatham camembert with Braebrun apple; Crawford Family Farm Vermont Ayr with Marcona Almonds; Shelburne Farms cheddar with quince paste; Twig Farm tomme with wildflower honey; Jasper Hill Bayley Hazen Blue with carmelized walnuts. Even if you’re not staying overnight at the inn, dinner at the Red Lion makes you feel like you’ve been on a journey to the heart of America. —Dan Shaw

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The Lion’s Den, the venerable ratskeller at the Red Lion Inn, is one of the coziest spots in the Berkshires. With its wood-burning fireplace, low ceilings and live music seven nights a week, it’s the bohemian soul of the genteel Stockbridge hotel. For logistical reasons, the Lion’s Den does not, alas, share a kitchen with the Widow Bingham’s Tavern upstairs, which is why you could always get an excellent burger and fries in the tavern but never in the den. Indeed, the den’s burger was a bit of an embarrassment, which is why you won’t find it on the Lion’s Den new menu that executive chef Brian Alberg has put together. While favorites like the French onion soup ($7) remain (and Monday night’s $9.99 spaghetti and meatballs special), Alberg has crafted a menu tilted toward sustainable foods that don’t require an ace line cook. He offers up a generous house-made pistachio-studded pâté ($10) with a pile of cornichons and good toast as well as a satisfyingly light bowl of chile ($8) with fresh tortilla chips. Salads and sandwiches are designed for big appetites and include the Den Cobb Salad with turkey, bacon, avocado, egg & buttermilk ranch dressing($14); oast turkey with stuffing & cranberry mayonnaise on multigrain bread ($11) and the vegan-friendly grilled eggplant, avocado, hummus & greens on Berkshire Mountain Bakery flaxseed bread ($10). With the new menu, the den has become the quintessential Berkshires pub. —Dan Shaw

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The Red Lion’s Courtyard

The pebbled courtyard nestled behind the venerable Red Lion Inn is a quiet oasis steps from the throngs of tourists on Main Street. With colorful impatiens planted everywhere, it has the pleasant air of an old-money country club that has opened its doors to the public. There’s WiFi so you can check your email (and consult Rural Intelligence) while having a glass of wine or a beer at an umbrella table. The price of admission is easy: For $13 you’ll get a satisfying turkey sandwich or a cheeseburger with fries. While the menu has several salads—Berkshire greens with almonds and goat cheese ($10) and a Caesar salad ($9/$15 with grilled chicken) we wish there were an old-fashioned Cobb or Chef’s salad on the menu for the genuine country-club experience. Open seasonally, May-September, weather permitting.

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West Stockbridge, Massachusetts

Located in West Stockbridge’s old train station, No. Six Depot Roastery and Café is a serious coffee shop. Owners Lisa Landry and Flavio Lichtenthal travel to farms all over the world to find the highest quality coffee beans. If you’re interested, employees will explain the farming techniques, roasting processes, and blend differences, generously offering tastes to anyone who asks. There are 12 blends of coffee plus espresso, as well as 18 blends of whole-leaf teas carefully selected by Lisa. The café sells their coffee and teas for home brewing, as well as 10 kinds of naturally pure, artisanal salt. Breakfast offers an array of croissants, pain en chocolat, and other home-baked goods, as well as waffles, eggs and homemade granola. For lunch, panini choices include Civito, an Argentine-style seared skirt steak with chimicurri; Porchetta, a slow-roasted pig with truffle aioli, hazelnut gremolata, and lemon-caper aioli; Arbelito, a seasonal vegetarian panini; or a 14-month aged Prosciutto di Parma and local mozzarella and/or tomato. ($9 each). The salads are fresh from local farms and include combinations such as avocado, grapefruit, red onion and mint; fennel, orange and olives; and others ($7 each).

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Though it opened within the past decade, Rouge has a Design-Research-meets-flower-child look reminiscent of the ’60s, which may explain why Berkshire-eans of a certain age and persuasion (my own) have taken it to heart. Another lure: the food is good and generally well-priced. A huge platter of fried calamari with an excellent house aioli is a steal at $9. The baby-back ribs (“Best ever!”) with rosemary mashed and an Asian-y slaw is a serious plate of food for $24. But beware the salad specials: $13 suggests something more robust than a modest plate of greens with a restrained garnish of (alas, unripe) fruit.

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Williamstown, Massachusetts

After fourteen years, Mezze Bistro + Bar has become as integral to life in northern Berkshire County as The Clark, MASS MoCA and the Williamstown Theatre Festival. In June 2010, co-owner Nancy Thomas moved to a new spacious and gracious location just south of town on Route 7. The setting and food could not be more stylish and appropriate for a rural community populated by so many academics and art scholars. A leading proponent of the farm-to-table movement, Thomas encourages chef Joji Sumi to buy as much meat and vegetables as possible from local sources like Cricket Creek and Mighty Food Farms. The menu ranges from an American Charcuterie Plate featuring house-made beef jerky and summer sausage ($10) and roasted beets with Berle Farm yogurt and tarragon oil ($9) to roasted diver scallops with butter-braised radishes ($28) and fettucine Bolognese ($21). —Dan Shaw

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Pera Mediterranean Bistro owner Fahri Karakaya was born and raised in Turkey and has years of hospitality management under his belt, most recently at The Breakers in Palm Beach. And it shows in Pera’s warm, relaxing atmosphere and top-notch food. There are no deep-fried falafel balls here – Chef Randall Beaudoin sautees in olive oil, and the result is deliciously flaky spanikopita and the best falafel I’ve ever tasted. The high standards carry over into dinner and dessert: The lamb for the lamb burger ($10, with arugula, feta cheese, and cusabi dressing) is ground fresh daily; the menu includes seasonal offerings like a summer watermelon salad; and the popular mussels appetizer changes flavors daily. Dinner ($15-$29) is a mix of American and Mediterranean dishes, and includes the popular Calamari Fra Diablo, Mediterranean scrod, and chicken or lamb kebabs. Dessert ($6-$7) includes baklava, gelato from SoCo Creamery, and flourless chocolate cake and Irish whiskey cake from Crazy Russian Girls Neighborhood Bakery located right over the border in Bennington.

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Columbia County

Ancram, New York

West Taghkanic Diner

Roadside diners, which seem to be an endangered species, hold a special place in our hearts because they harken back to simpler times. For travelers on the Taconic State Parkway, the West Taghkanic Diner (Route 82 /Ancram Exit)—an aluminum diner in perfect condition with its original details and signage proudly in place—is warm, welcoming, familiar, and reliable. The food is a mix of classics and gentrified dishes delivered with great service, good humor, and considerable speed. Some travelers call ahead and bring up an egg sandwich or two on their way north to the Berkshires; others drop in and stay for the Almond-crusted stuffed French Toast, the unimpeachable waffles, or the sweet potato pancakes with real maple syrup. For lunch, the patty melt with homemade onion rings is a guilty pleasure you’ll remember with a faint smile for the entire day. The diner’s many fans include writer and activist Sam Pratt. “One of my favorite places, with solid service and daily specials which are a cut above your typical diner fare,” he says. “I go there all the time—either with local friends, or with houseguests who invariably want to have Sunday brunch at a smalltown diner. I wouldn’t change a thing.” —Dan Shaw

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Chatham, New York

Two Brooklyn transplants have begun their second act in the form of Ben Gable Savories, an eat-in, take-out specialty food boutique offering tarts, salads, soups, baked goods and (hallelujah!) world-class coffee—Stumptown’s Hair Bender, either brewed or put through the paces of a dazzling La Marzocco espresso machine. A sandwich of fennel salami on an excellent baguette is topped with roasted fennel, slivers of parmagiano and a smear of orange aioli ($7.50). Tomato soup comes with a dollop of mascarpone and a swirl of basil pesto ($6.50); a delectable, butter-crusted broccoli tart is accompanied by a mixed green salad ($9.50) whose dressing has first-rate olive oil as its principal flavor note. As with many other dishes on the menu here, this last is served with a side of “couture ketchup”—one of the sweet/savory jams by “Three Little Figs” that they also sell by the jar ($14 - $16).

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Blue Plate is owned by Chatham’s patron saint of small town culture, Judy Grunberg, and since 2014, the kitchen has been run by Dominic Giuliano, a CIA grad who opened the Choza Taqueria kiosks in the city before moving to the Hudson Valley. There’s a well-regarded wine list and signature cocktails that are complex and vibrant, including a pineapple chili margarita ($11), well restrained and balanced, and a bourbon ginger julep ($11), also easy on the syrup and refreshing. The small plates work well as appetizers or mains and often give Chef Giuliano an opportunity to highlight the quality of local produce. The spinach-potato pancakes ($8), full of bright flavor, were soft on the inside and well crisped on the outside. Similarly, the roasted “Rock City” mushrooms ($11) were given a welcome high-heat treatment, seared on the outside yet still firm inside. There are always mussels on the menu, in a classic broth or sometimes something more adventurous on the specials list, which is a good place to experience the Blue Plate’s slogan, “The American Bistro with International Implications.” Mussels, especially when done right, as they are here with the classic white wine garlic and parsley ($12), are one of those dishes that transcend seasons, reminiscent of summer beaches and warming on the coldest night. Other small plates include the grilled lamb sliders ($14) and the flatbread with four cheeses, pesto and spinach ($11). From a curried chickpea stew ($15) and vegetable pad thai ($17) to cavatelli pasta in a pork sausage ragout ($21) and the restaurant’s signature meatloaf ($15), the menu is wide ranging. Read the full review here.

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Yianni’s Restaurant

Owned by Peter Stefanopoulos of the Four Brothers family (which also includes George, Christo, William) and fashioned after their fine Boathouse Restaurant in Lakeville, the impressive-looking spot that was formerly inhabited by Lippera’s, Yianni’s offers an extensive menu plus nightly specials showcasing a great deal of variety and dextrous cooking experience, with seafood playing a star role. There’s an American/fine Greek/Japanese air to it all (talk about fusion!), with an abundance of choices from appetizer specialties such as escargot ($9) and Maryland crab cakes ($12) to a variety of seafood, NY strip steak, roasted duck or rack of lamb ($22-$32) in the main course section. Pastas include cioppino ($30) and shrimp and scallop risotto ($28), and, a rarity for the area, a raw bar (with oysters, clambs, shrimp, and a wonderful lump-crab cocktail, from $12-$20). Large salads are offered with various meat options. In the sushi lineup, there’s the spicy tuna and Housatonic rolls (smoked fresh salmon, roe, and cream cheese; $8 each), fresh and delicious. Meat eaters will enjoy the burger, which comes with excellent steak fries ($12). Prosecco is on the wine list along with an excellent organic wine from Estate Brintzkiki, imported from Greece and distributed by a local Chatham resident, Greco Trading. There are many desserts to choose from, including cheese cake and an old-fashioned root beer float.

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Copake, New York

This is one of those restaurants that you’re tempted to keep a secret. It would be a shame if you had to wait for a table on the deck with its gorgeous views of the lake and the rolling lawns of the public golf course (though the indoor dining room with its circular fireplace in the middle the room is—dare we say?—chic.) The Greens at the Copake Country Club is so off the beaten path that you would never just stumble across it, and yet it is only a couple of miles from Hillsdale and the Route 23 exit for the Taconic State Parkway. Although you will be handed a dinner menu with serious entrees like grilled sea scallops with cellophane noodles in coconut lemongrass broth ($26) and Herondale Farm beef stew ($23), you can also ask for the Club Menu that is filled with hearty bargains such as a turkey club sandwich ($8) and jumbo burger ($9) that come with a mound of fries and cole slaw, and chicken Caesar salad ($10). The folks running this intelligently gentrified golf club seem to understand their diverse clientele so there’s a children’s menu (pasta with butter: $5) as well as a list of local purveyors who supply the restaurant, including Equinox Farm, Farm Girl Farm, Herondale Farm and SoCo Creamery. A brand new covered porch that looks like a rural version of a trendy urban lounge has just opened so you can enjoy cocktails and the views even on a stormy day. Once you visit, you may not want to tell your friends because you’ll be tempted to keep it a secret, too. —Dan Shaw

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Germantown, New York

At the crossroads in the center of Germantown, Gaskins has a modern elegance that’s matched by the refined dinner offerings. You can start with creamy burrata, punched up with garlic scape pesto ($14) or marinated peak-season heirloom tomatoes paired with peaches basil and chorizo ($12). All the small plates and mains rotate based on seasonality and whim, but a sampling of a recent menu gives you a sense that no matter when you come there will be something that will beckon, like the house-made fettuccine with a rabbit ragu, saffron and olives ($18) or the really classic wood-roasted mussels and clams with potatoes and corn ($21). As any local joint should, they have some staples as well, including a stellar burger and fries ($14) and baked mac and cheese ($7) that’s only going to grow in popularity when the weather turns cold. And save room at the end for a cheese plate ($12), lemon polenta cake ($8), stone fruit crisp ($9) or just some great chocolate ice cream ($6). To accompany, there’s a knowledgeably curated wine list, a bevy of good beer and even a selection of after-dinner drinks. Read full review here.

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Ghent, NY

After 11 years of standing dormant, the three-story Italianate-style brick building on Route 66 in Ghent has been revived as Bartlett House Kitchen, Bakery & Cafe by a trio of entrepreneurs keen on curating a neighborhood destination known for its hospitality and old-world charm.

Head Baker Craig Escalante’s ovens are turning out myriad offerings from traditional baguette and pain de mie pullman, to country sourdough and apricot currant walnut sourdough loaves. The bakery menu is punctuated by croissants — classic ($3.75), dark chocolate ($4) and twice-baked pistachio ($4) — as well as muffins ($3.75), running the gamut from a traditional whole wheat buttermilk blueberry to the seasonal zucchini and the exotic pear rosewater. Cherry cornmeal scones ($4) are a staple, along with dark chocolate chip cookies and candied lemon zest shortbread ($2.50). The sleek coffee bar serves up exceptional coffee sourced from Sightglass, a San Francisco-based company specializing in sustainable harvests, as well as a carefully curated selection of fine organic teas from Divinitea.

Executive Chef Amy Stonionis has a penchant for creating menus around local farms and artisan producers. Her breakfast menu includes yogurt, house-made granola and berries ($8), a farmer’s breakfast consisting of two farm eggs, breakfast potatoes, toast, choice of bacon, house sausage or vegetable ($9) and French toast served with strawberries, balsamic reduction pistachio, creme fraiche and mint ($11).

For lunch, the local bounty is transformed into Grains and Greens ($7) featuring kale, quinoa, radish with shallot dijon vinaigrette; burrata, basil, pea greens, olive oil and sea salt ($12); the more substantial chicken salad available as a sandwich or a plate ($9/10) made with creme fraiche, radish, dill and scallions; and the house-cured salmon ($12) served with horseradish, creme fraiche, cucumber, radish, dill, scallions and multigrain. For the more traditional palate, there is the Bartlett House burger ($14) served with aioli and fries, as well as a fried chicken sandwich ($10) that comes with red cabbage slaw, sweet pickles, chipotle aioli, on a house-made sesame bun. Bartlett House also offers a cold deli case with daily prepared specials for quick pickup.

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Hillsdale, New York

Cross Roads Food Shop

Chef David Wurth has been living and cooking long enough in this area to know you must have crossover appeal to succeed. With his Cross Roads Food Shop, he has created a neighborhood hangout by day and destination dining by night. In the morning, you can linger over coffee and cornmeal pancakes ($5) or grab an egg sandwich ($5) to go. After noon, there are salads with locally sourced ingredients that change with what’s available fresh from the fields (such as, in spring, Brussels sprouts, grated goat cheese, walnuts and wheat berries for $7); grass-fed burgers with fries ($10); and gentrified sandwiches like roasted pork with leeks and chile sauce ($8.50).

[Note: Crossroads Food Shop is not currently serving dinner.]
On weekend evenings, the candles are lit, and there is table service, during which Wurth serves deceptively simple but extraordinarily delicious plates such as steamed fish with tapenade, turnips and poached butter lettuce ($22) and spaghetti with spinach, mustard butter and baked tomatoes ($13/$18). His roast chicken breast on a bed of wilted greens is simplicity at its most sublime—exceptionally juicy and flavorful. When asked why it’s so delicious, the waitress says, “I think they sear it in duck fat.” Wurth won’t confirm or deny, but it’s clear that he has more than few epicurean secrets up his sleeve. On a recent Friday night, the dining room was buzzing, filled with familiar faces from Austerlitz to the north, Great Barrington to the east, Hudson to the west, and Millerton to the South. “This is exactly why I called it the Cross Roads Food Shop,” says Wurth. “I am glad it is living up to its name.” — Dan Shaw

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There’s something literally fantastic about the Swiss Hutte, a half-timber 19th-century farmhouse that’s been in continuous operation as an inn for over fifty years. Tucked in a hidden valley amid gardens at the foot of Catamount ski slope, it feels half-a-world and at least half-a-lifetime away. The menu is filled with old-fashioned classics—salmon a la Florentine, beef with bernaise, wienerschnitzel ($28 - $34)—that Zurich-born owner-chef Gert Alpert does to such perfection, you’ll leave in a delusional glow about the good old days. (Trust me, unless you grew up in Europe, the restaurants your parents took you to were not this good.) In summer, opt for the flowery patio; in winter, (no kidding) cheese fondue by the fire?

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Hudson, New York

Baba Louie’s

If Hudson Baba Louie’s is Son of Great Barrington Baba Louie’s, then the kid is both bigger and more beautiful than his dad. But who cares? At Baba Louie’s, inner beauty is what counts. We’ve already raved about the salads, the pizzas, the prices (see Great Barrington, above). Once in a while, you owe it to yourself to change course and try the homemade vegetarian, dairy-free soup ($1.95/$3.95), the delicious panini ($6.95-$7.95) or the invariably good evening pasta ($10.95/$15.95) instead. Bring along a hungry friend; portions are huge.

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A small café tucked into a discreet downtown storefront run by sisters Shannon and Wendy Kenneally, Bruno’s offers a menu that’s deceptively simple, hiding a stacked lineup of expertly executed sandwiches, soups and sides. There’s also the specials board, often a full menu on its own, including the café’s best-selling bánh mì, a Vietnamese sandwich (which, if removed from the board, would quickly cause a riot), Cuban sandwiches, hotdogs and sliders to falafel and burritos. Everything is made with the best local ingredients and put together with care and a knowledgeable and sophisticated understanding of developed flavor. Bruno’s is also a small but well-curated grocery store, supplying high-quality produce, local meats and cheeses and dry goods.

227 Warren St., Hudson, NY
(518) 822-9344

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Often, going to a restaurant in our area can seem like landing in the middle of Waiting for Guffman—amateurs acting their hearts out badly. Polished, well-managed Ca’Mea Ristorante is just the opposite. Two Warren Street storefronts attractively combined, plus, in season, an enormous garden, it also has a bar that’s great for dining (square, with a central bartender, it invites interchange, making it popular with solo diners and couples who’ve already heard what each other has to say). Upon arriving one Saturday night last summer without reservations, our party of four was surprised that we were able to cadge a table in the garden right away. The place was hopping, so we kept it simple—salads ($7.50) and pastas ($15 - $17) all around—and braced ourselves for a wait. Not at all. Firsts arrived promptly, and within minutes, the steaming bowls came out. Impressive. And the food? Authentically northern Italian, which is to say, delicious, if not the most inventive stuff around.

The repurposed old Hudson bus terminal is distinctive indeed: dusky hues, stately red brick, high ceilings, and 19th century light poles as supporting columns. Even on a busy night, the waitstaff is a perfect combo of efficient, friendly, and attentive. When our 15-year-old tucks into his Helsinki Burger ($13) he’s very happy. With applewood smoked bacon, roasted Portobello, caramelized onion and NY state cheddar, how could he not be? The dinner special of brined and roasted chicken ($25), served over garlicky kale and puree of parsnips, offers a balance between comfort food and good-for-you. A cornmeal-fried rainbow trout with lemon caper tartar sauce ($23) is light yet deeply satisfying; adding delicious crab to hushpuppies offers a healthful twist to a guilty pleasure. Vegetarians can enjoy vegetable tamales ($14) and roasted golden beet caprese ($11). Perennial sides include grits and collards (both $6). And Stinson was right: the apple pie a la mode was borderline sinful. And he would know. —Robert Burke Warren

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Vietnamese is “really light, clean food,” Hudson Food Studio owner and chef David Chicane explains. “It’s more herb- than spice-based. When you get done with dinner, you feel good,” rather than needing to take either a jog or a nap. “It’s about letting the ingredients speak for themselves.” That keep-it-simple approach is evident in dishes such as bun cha — spicy pork meatballs over plain rice vermicelli, with sprouts and fermented nuoc mam fish sauce for dipping — or in the spicy chicken with lime chile, thai basil and mint. Each bright component stands alone yet harmonized, via some inscrutable kitchen thaumaturgy. Ditto the salad of pink pickled beets, flash-fried goat cheese, almonds, golden raisins, coriander and pea shoots. Appetizers, such as fresh summer rolls, fall in the $8-$11 range, with entrées running from $13-$22.

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The unambiguously named Italian Market in Hudson just might be the posh little city’s best-kept secret. Unassuming at first glance, this humble market and deli is quietly home to some of the best food in the gastronomically cultured area. Billy Ledda moved to the Hudson Valley from Long Island and opened up shop on the corner of Park Place and Columbia Street during the summer of 2011. The food at The Italian Market is simple, intuitive and driven by the quality of ingredients. Ledda gets his bread shipped up from Manhattan every morning; his meats are imported from Italy and he uses as much local produce as possible. Customers rave about the chicken salad, which Ledda has elevated to unbelievable heights by roasting the chicken in fresh herbs so that when he mixes it with just a little mayo and celery, all the complex flavors you taste are from the meat. One of Ledda’s signature sandwiches — the “Grandpa” — is crafted on a pillowy sub roll with perfectly breaded chicken cutlets, fresh mozzarella, toothsome broccoli rabe, roasted red peppers and balsamic. The Market is also a shop, supplying the area with a small but well-curated supply of classic pastas, European sweets, dry goods, sauces, oils, pickled goods and Italian sodas.

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Le Gamin Country

Le Gamin Country is the brainchild of husband and wife team Patrick and Astrid Jehanno. Patrick was executive chef/partner of the original Le Gamin series of restaurants in New York City, and both he and Astrid are long-time veterans of the business. But this restaurant has a personality very different from the ones in the city, and it all starts with the food. There is the classic Quiche Lorraine, a compelling mix of air, cheese and smokiness from the fresh, thick-cut bacon; the French Onion Soup ($7.50), so densely loaded with fresh chicken stock, onions, gruyere cheese and French bread that it makes other restaurants’ versions seem like water knockoffs. The salads are impeccably fresh — try La Salade Nicoise, a French classic; and Endives Au Roquefort Et Pommes Vinaigrette La Lavande, endive salad with Roquefort cheese, apples, and walnuts; both $12.50 and enough to feed two, or the sweet or savory crepes, flawless made ($5 for simple, up to $8.75). There’s usually one dish on their daily menu that could classify as a dinner meal, which might include merguez or mussels.

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Lil’ Deb’s Oasis

Run for 20 years as Debbie’s Lil’ Restaurant, owner Debbie Fiero handed the keys to Hanna Black and Carla Perez-Gallardo, who splashed the walls with bright pastel pinks and greens and blues, draping the place in art and texture. Bright, herbaceous, citrusy flavors are the linchpin to the whole experience. The menu board can feature any number of unexpected plates but there is always a ceviche of the day and a whole fried fish (market price) that taste as good as they look. There’s also a tight menu of staple offerings including mojo chicken with rice, lentils and orange salsa verde ($16), grilled octopus with radicchio and smoked avocado ($18), mussels in a coconut tomato broth ($17) and others. You can also snack on deviled eggs with pickled onion and chili oil ($4), yucca fries ($7) or salt cod fritters with green plantains ($9) as a side or with a glass of wine. Open for dinner, there’s also a Smoothie Window serving tasty drinks during midday. Read the full review here.

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Don’t let the hardscrabble border-town name and matching décor fool you. This northern outpost of an acclaimed NYC dining spot is not low end. Everything at Mexican Radio is freshly chopped and squeezed, and the value is good (entrees, a cut well above the norm, are mostly under $20), as long as you lay off the $7-$11 Margaritas. But who does?

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You needn’t be an oenophile to get a kick out of (p.m.) Wine Bar, although, for anyone who is, the Red Wine Flight—three reds plus one tapa @ $20—is an offer that’s hard to pass up. But there are so many other delights inside this ancient storefront on the older, quieter end of Warren Street. There’s the witty decor, the tasty tapas (Diablos a Caballo—sundried dates stuffed with Valdeón blue cheese and wrapped in crispy bacon, $9),the sweet owner Kevin Moran behind the bar, and a passel of amusing regulars drinking wines by the glass, $7 - $11; real champagne, $12, or something stiffer from the full bar. Too peckish for tapas? A smallish entree, such as a bowl of delicious Spanish beef stew, $11, is always available. —Marilyn Bethany

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Red Dot

Anyone who’s curious as to the precise nature and significance of what is happening in upstate New York should check out the bar scene here. Doesn’t matter when: on a blizzard-y weeknight in February, you’ll find a confluence of young and old, straight and gay, rich and poor, town and gown, business and arts. Interestingly, all this barrier-blind conviviality hinges on the larger-than-life personality of the owner, Alana Hauptman, who treats everyone the same—as if each were, on the one hand, a celebrity and, on the other, sorely in need of a severe and profane dressing down. Fortunately, regulars would rather go hungry than leave the bar, so no matter how crowded the Dot appears to be, it’s generally easy to get a table in back. And in warm weather, there’s a garden that’s the soul of charm. Oh, and, by the way, they also serve food. Think: bistro and reasonable. While Chef Jonathan may not be out to re-invent the wheel—chicken pot pie ($14), steak with red wine shallot butter ($24)—it’s pretty #&!^%@! good.

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Is there another restaurant in Columbia County as New Yorky (in a good way) as this smashing place? Swoon Kitchenbar owner-chef Jeffrey Gimmel, a former top toque at Michael’s, and his partner in all things, Nina Bachinsky-Gimmel, once a pastry chef at the Union Square Café, met while studying cheese making at The Old Chatham Sheepherding Co. All that training shows in the work: an appetizer of house smoked beef tongue with fingerling potato crisps and cauliflower mustard puree ($10.95); an entrée of chicken fricassee with fennel, celery root and leeks ($22.95). And for the culinarily cautious, there’s always the skirt steak with mashed ($19.95).

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Tortillaville is not a restaurant per se, but it does sell 10,000 burritos per year from a truck parked in a high-profile location on the 300 block of Warren Street. During the winter months, Brian Branigan and Allison Culbertson drive their portable eatery to Big Pine Key and resume business in the Florida Keys. Their fare is tasty, reasonably healthy, and certainly affordable (tacos average $2.50; burritos, $6.50). The 100 days per year they are in town mark “the season” for many Hudsonians. —Marilyn Bethany

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First-rate Italian food: We’ve all tasted a lot of caponata, but we haven’t tasted a lot of caponata ($7) as good as this. Regulars at Vico suffer withdrawal each summer when the lasagna al cinghiale ($23), featuring a ferocious wild boar ragu, goes into hibernation. Add flawless service, and you’d have a great dining experience, but for the harsh lighting and amateurish décor. In Hudson? Where every third pedestrian is a designer? Just open any window and yell, “Help!”

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Wm. Farmer and Sons Boarding and Barroom on Front Street has created a beautiful and professional lodging and dining experience. The rooms, coffee bar and other boarding amenities are elegant and comfortable, employing a style reverent of Hudson’s history while acknowledging its modern relevance. But the big gem at the center of it all that’s a gift (not just to guests but also to spoiled locals) is the barroom. For a starter or bar snack you can get boudin balls made with the forage-fed pork from Kinderhook’s Lovers Leap Farm, a grilled octopus salad or a frisee salad with pork belly and cambozola cheese with a grapefruit and sweet shallot vinaigrette. The mushroom starter is a mix of top-quality fresh mushrooms on puff pastry in a ham-spiked chicken. There are also excellent barroom staples including French onion soup, a fried chicken sandwich and a perfectly executed burger in a town of great burgers. The teak with fries is outstanding; so are the crispy confit Hudson Valley duck with beans and a beautiful trout paired with crawfish, butter beans and a citrus emulsion. For vegetarians, there’s the velvety gnocchi, squash, braised kale and apple in a Parmesan gravy that’s a hearty joy. Starters and mains range from $10 to $30 and the menu will change seasonally. The cocktail menu at Wm. F&S is a reason in itself for a visit. Try the El Guapo, with tequila, lime, cucumber and a dash of Cholula hot sauce rendering a complex but measured bite. Read full review here.

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Kinderhook, New York

The circa 1850 space, formerly the home of Blackwood & Brouwer Booksellers, is a brick-and-mortar incarnation of the Black Forest Flammkuchen food truck. Here, there is a full menu of French-German comfort food. “Flammerie” means ‘the place for ‘flammkuchen’, and the proprietors’ (Andrew Chase, a CIA graduate, and Conny Chase, from Munich) signature is the paper-thin crusted wood-fired flatbread. The Flammerie’s well-executed blend of rooted tradition and new world twist is demonstrated by the ‘Puerco’ flammkuchen, topped with chipotle fromage blanc, guajillo-braised pork shoulder and cilantro ($10). The emphasis on Columbia County’s bright seasonal vegetables, such as the delicate and beautifully plated beet and watermelon radish salad ($9), lightens a potentially stodgy Germanic palate. Brotzeit, the small plates, priced between $8-10 apiece, are the jewels of The Flammerie. The sumptuously cooked, locally sourced Lover’s Leap pork belly is perfectly paired with the bed of pickled sauerkraut. The earthy, silky house-made bourbon duck liver mousse, and the Fleischpflanzerl—Bavarian meatloaf sliders—are savory and filling. Entrées of pork loin schnitzel ($21) and coq au vin ($22), are well-done versions of these classics. Spätzle enthusiasts should try the Forestiere, served piping hot in a gratin dish, the wood-fired mushrooms and braised greens hidden within glistening, melted raclette ($7 small/$11 large). The excellent local ingredients make The Flammerie’s offerings distinctive amongst the region’s refined pub food.

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New Lebanon, New York

Blueberry Hill Market & Café

“This is the best burger I ever ate.” Such was the reaction of one recent diner at Blueberry Hill Market & Café in New Lebanon, NY, a breakfast and lunch place that opened without fanfare on Memorial Day weekend 2012. That particular burger featured grass-fed beef, a smear of pesto, a thick slice of heirloom tomato, and melted fresh mozzarella cheese ($8.25). Owner Melanie Hunt is committed to high-quality, local ingredients, including Berkshire Mountain Bakery breads, burgers made from Kinderhook Farm’s grass-fed beef, from-scratch lemonade and iced tea served in quart jars, coffee roasted a couple of miles up the road at Liquid Assets, Ronnybrook Farm Dairy butter and yogurt, and fruits and vegetables from Abode Farm, a CSA “right up that hill,” says Hunt, pointing to a nearby rise where a Shaker community once thrived, where farmer Evan Thaler-Null tills the soil with a horse-drawn plow. Breakfasts, served until 1 p.m., range from scrambled eggs and toast ($2.99) to a cider-bacon-stuffed wafflewith maple-cinnamon butter ($7.99). For lunch, in addition to the grass-fedburger, there’s a less expensive one made from Angus beef ($4.50) and the usual range of sandwiches—tuna and chicken salad, pulled pork and chicken, assorted meat-and-cheese combos. The excitement starts when the plates arrive at table—generous portions, including the fresh-fruit garnish, artfully arranged on old-fashioned willowware. Everything looks beautiful and tastes even better, thanks to superior ingredients and astute execution. Among the desserts, housemade “slab pies” (one recent day, a choice of apple-raspberry or peach-blueberry, for $3.00) stand out.

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Old Chatham, New York

Since 2002, Old Chatham Country Store & Café has served as a beacon, drawing hungry pilgrims from near and far to an otherwise obscure crossroad in Northern Columbia County. What gets locals through the door may be urgent need of a bottle of milk, a loaf of bread, pr the morning paper, but what keeps them (and those who travel to get there) lingering by the hour at tables surrounding a wood-burning stove are the cappuccinos, egg and other hot sandwiches (lump crabmeat with remoulade, $13.99), cold sandwiches (ham and Four Fat Fowl, a local soft-ripening cheese, with slices of green apple, $10.99), cinnamon-scented French toast (1, 2 or 3 slices, $2.75, $5.25, $7.50, respectively), hardy soups ($4.50 cup, $5, bowl), and substantial salads ($9.99 - $12.99)—comfort food with a gloss of sophistication. Jane Roy Browne of the Boston Globe has called the cafe “an affluent slice of country life.” But, in fact, CIA-trained owner Brian Albert has done one better than that: He’s created a menu and a milieu that are as agreeable to the hippy with a hammer as they are to the master of the hounds.—Marilyn Bethany

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Philmont, New York

A beacon of promise in up-and-coming Philmont, this former filling station, cleverly reconfigured by co-owner/architect Linda Gatter, doesn’t just look like the hippest restaurant around. As its name implies, the emphasis at Local 111 is on seasonal and locally grown. Grass-fed meat (grilled steak $25) and free-range poultry (roast chicken $20) are everything you’d expect. But it’s the first courses (beets, olives and potatoes, $6; sausage and peppers, $8) and sides (wilted greens, baked tomatoes, soft polenta with cheese @ $3) that steal the show. Fortunately, grazing rights are extended to all—any three sides with grilled bread are a mere $8.

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Stuyvesant, NY

With its million-dollar view of the Hudson River and a just-completed total renovation, The Riverview Café in the rural northwestern-most corner of Columbia County is better than anyone had a right to expect. With a very affordable farm-to-table menu prepared by one of the Capital District’s best young chefs, the new restaurant is well worth the scenic drive just 15 minutes north of Hudson. The new menu and mission will attract foodies and casual diners from across the region with locally sourced, healthier versions of unintimidating American cuisine. Lunch never tops $11 — and even that is for a house-smoked, pulled-brisket sandwich. For dinner service the café becomes slightly more elegant, with an inventive and tightly crafted list of specials that changes weekly and with the season. The quality, local ingredients show: Even an item as classic as a two-egg breakfast ($6) is elevated by the “farm freshness” and attention to detail. Also try the biscuits and sausage gravy ($7) or sauteed kale and tomato confit with poached eggs ($8). For lunch, in addition to the brisket, there’s a sausage burger with bacon relish, local greens and spicy mustard ($9, or $10 with an egg on it); a superbly crafted massaged kale salad with fresh herbs, lemon, feta and pickled onions ($7); and a perfectly balanced roast chicken and hand-cut bacon sandwich with garlic aioli on Bonfiglio quinoa bread ($9). Craft beer and wine is served and the renovated bar is an elegant place to elbow up for a chat.

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Dutchess County

Amenia, New York

The family that brought you Monte’s in Brooklyn is back with Monte’s in Amenia, offering a menu that’s more “Hudson valley farm to table” than red sauce over spaghetti. For seafood lovers, there is grilled swordfish paired with a fennel gratin, fennel orange salad and blood orange beurre blanc ($26). For carnivores, we recommend the a 10-ounce rib eye steak ($32) that comes with a potato pancake-like dish that’s well worth the calories. Two of the most frequently ordered dishes are the roast beet salad with a beet sorbet, feta and pistachio vinaigrette ($12.50) and the Hudson Valley kale salad with autumn squash and candied pepitas ($12). Our reviewer has been eating at Monte’s once or twice a week since it opened. Enough said.

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Serevan

Serevan is a place where the chef’s attention to detail truly shows, both in the restaurant itself and in the dishes that chef/owner Serge Madikians creates. You enter into an old New England farmhouse set high above the road and surrounded by quiet gardens in which the chef has planted herbs and vegetables, used extensively in the kitchens. In warm weather, you can enjoy a quiet drink outside. In winter, the beautifully decorated dining area is a welcoming spot. The dishes are riffs on the foods of Madikians’ Armenian background, such as Salad Shriza—a falafel plate with hummus Labne (a soft yogurt cheese), marinated red cabbage and carrots—and a tart of ground lamb with spinach, olives, hummus and harissa, which had an excellently full lamb flavor and a delightful mix of spices. Other specialties include lamb shoulder stew with Persian limes, and delectable pan-European dishes such as diver scallops with Merguez sausage, hanger steak with potato puree and sumac reduction, and Pigasso Farm chicken with house-marinated olives, cucumbers, preserved lemons and couscous. (Photo by Serge Madikians)

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Bangall, New York

Red Devon

In a region where every other restaurant is off the beaten path, Red Devon in the hamlet of Bangall (in the town of Stanford, between Millbrook and Pine Plains) can be challenging to get to if you are not familiar with these back roads. But it is worth going out of your way because there is a chef in the kitchen who knows how to take first rate local ingredients and optimize their essential flavors. There’s nothing more commmonplace than a roasted-beet-and-goat-cheese salad, but Red Devon’s version is exemplary; each element works to support the other like musicians in really good band. A special appetizer of crispy pork belly ($15) came with green lentils, pickled ramps and fresh chervil; the crisp pork was counterintuitively melt-in-your mouth crisp. It’s clear that the chef has an affinity for pork; the seared pork “porterhouse” au poivre ($27) was another winner and so were its accompaniments—thick steak fries that had an earthy potatoness and wilted escarole in hot bacon dressing. And while having a full dinner can be expensive, we were handed a bar menu in the handsome main dining room that features homemade hot dogs ($5.99 with sauerkraut and $6.99 with chile and cheese) and southern fried chicken ($18) But it’s not just the food that is spot on: the young, attractive servers have been well-trained and they are unfailingly polite. The dining room is at once airy and cozy—a place you want to linger with a brandy or second cup of coffee. Red Devon is definitely worth a detour. Note: Closed January through March.

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Hyde Park, New York

For most of us, there is life, then there is lunch. At The Culinary Institute of America, life and food are one. Some of the classrooms look like sets for tv cooking shows. Others look like—in fact are—restaurant kitchens. The campus has five restaurants that are open to the public. All are staffed by students of varying degrees of expertise under the tutelage of accomplished industry professionals. The busiest of these is Apple Pie Bakery Café, where pastry chef Francisco Migoya reigns supreme.

Migoya, who polished his craft at the French Laundry, Bouchon Bakery, and Bouchon Bistro, is having quite a year. His recently published book, The Modern Café, has been nominated for a James Beard Award for the year’s best new book aimed at professional restaurateurs and chefs. And just one week after that honor was announced, Dessert Professional magazine declared Migoya one of the Top Ten Pastry Chefs in the United States.

Monday - Friday, from 7:30 a.m. when its doors open, until 11 a.m., Migoya’s domain is perhaps more high-end bakery than café—as fine a place as exists on this earth for a breakfast of baked goods—muffins ($2.50), croissants ($2.95), brioche ($3.50), Danish ($1.95 - $2.95)—and excellent coffee of all kinds, including French press. Each morning there also is a featured latte; i.e., Nutella-flavored with a scattering of finish salt. After 11, lunch service begins and continues throughout the afternoon to 5 p.m. Salads, sandwiches, soups—typical cafe categories, if not fare: The Spring Pea Salad ($9.95), a green-on-green melange of English, snow, and sugar snap peas with arugula in a champagne vinaigrette with toasted almonds and grated dry-aged goat cheese is so complex and engaging, it hardly needs the crispy prosciutto it is offered with for just $1 more. A truffled grilled cheese sandwich on sourdough with crispy speck is delicious; but it is the side of kale chips and lemon aioli that won our hearts ($12.95). We’re already plotting what we will order the next time: steamed Chinese pork buns with a cucumber and chili salad ($10.95) or perhaps the short rips braised in beer served with coddled eggs, shoestring fries, and a side of mache ($11.95). These may be accompanied by wines by the glass ($5.75 - $7) or a range of mostly micro-brewery beers ($3.75 - $4.50).

But it is Migoya’s show-stopping confections that steal the spotlight here. In The Modern Café, he devotes just 100 pages out of a total of 550 to savories. Nearly every one of those remaining pages is filled with glorious baking and pudding-making recipes and techniques. Desserts—a big MACaron (mango jelly, pistachio buttercream, raspberry gel, and chocolate ganache @$5.95) or a slice of chocolate XS cake, a rich, flourless cake of 61% dark chocolate mousse ($5.95); or perhaps just a big carrot-cake cookie filled with vanilla cream cheese ($2.95)—are delightful. The whole pies and cakes, which are meant to be taken out, are nothing short of astonishing. For $29.95, one can treat a dinner host or a loved one celebrating a birthday to an exquisitely moist chocolate-buttermilk cake layered with chocolate chantilly and iced in fondant. Or a Red Velvet Pillow Cake, above ($24.95).

The term café is thrown around loosely to describe any restaurant, from a greasy spoon to a bistro, that is inexpensive. CIA’s Apple Pie Bakery Café delivers on the not-too-expensive, but apart from that, it is a café in a class by itself. —Marilyn Bethany

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Bocuse Restaurant at the Culinary Institute of America

The Bocuse Restaurant is The Culinary Institute’s version of Chez Bocuse, a $3 million classroom, where students learn what it would be like to cook and serve in a French restaurant with aspirations to Michelin stars. But the fare placed on your table is not a slavish tribute to classic French recipes. Helped along by contemporary kitchen innovations like sous vide and dry ice machines, it’s more like Star Wars meets Escoffier. The meal preface is an amuse bouche, a tidbit to “amuse the mouth”—in this case a postage stamp-sized ravioli in truffle sauce. The main courses are tiny, displayed like origami on hubcap-sized plates. The Dungeness crab or “Dormeu” ($9) which proved to be a brick of shredded crab with flecks of avocado and orange, was as fresh as if just removed from an Alaskan fishing boat. The main course choice for this review was identified as Pintaude a l’Etue — a slow-cooked guinea hen placed on a breathtaking sauce. Chocolate and Chocolate dessert produced two chocolate pastries accompanied by Grand Marnier and delivered in a frozen thimble ($12 and worth the calories).

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Millbrook, New York

This cozy French bistro, with a real French owner/chef, Herve Bochard, in the kitchen, is la vrai chose. Tucked away on a Millbrook side street, it has been a popular stand-by for nearly 25 years (lucky Millbrook), its name a reference to Les Baux-de-Provence. As implied, the menu seldom strays from authentic Southeastern France regional classics such as moules frites ($19), steak frites ($25), duck breast with a port-wine reduction ($24), all perfectly prepared and presented. There is nothing chi-chi about Café Les Baux, either in the decor or on the menu. It’s the consistent quality that turns first-time diners into regulars and keeps them coming back year-after-year. Our advice: reserve ahead, especially for dinner on weekends. —Marilyn Bethany

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Charlotte’s owners, Mikael and Alicia Moller, have found their way to Millbrook via Sweden and NYC and they’ve brought their expertise with them. In the wintertime, enjoy a simmering glogg in front of the fireplace in either the bar area or the wall-length muraled main dining room. In the summertime, take a seat in Alicia’s garden and watch chef Mikael grill your dinner over an open fire. The fish (rainbow trout, Atlantic salmon) is so fresh you can almost smell the sea, and the kitchen receives deliveries of local Dutchess County produce and cheeses fresh each morning. (Alicia’s gardens produce the restaurant’s tomatoes, lemon thyme, and mint). They cure their own gravlax, sun-dry their own tomatoes, and freeze their own ice cream. The piece de resistance of the Fall menu is the osso buco ($27), normally a veal shank, but at Charlotte’s it’s a pork shank braised in wine stock with farm fresh vegetables. The visual presentation rivals the photos in any $50 coffee table book. For the budget conscious, there’s a black Angus cheddar burger with “Ajax fries,” which are the traditional fries tossed in truffle oil.

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There’s no farmer’s wife here — just the farmer’s son-in-law — and the near-Millbrook location is a satellite of the successful café of the same name in Ancramdale, 20 miles up Route 82. The hand at the range is Job Yacubian, who with his wife. Emilie, runs the café. Gone is the rustic Cracker Barrel atmosphere of the former Mabbetsville Market, replaced by floor-to-ceiling white tiles, whitewashed walls and a sea of stainless cooking appliances, including a vertical rotisserie, which, Yacubian says, allows him to grill two different meats at once without the juice from the upper dripping onto the one below. This location’s menu is even more sophisticated than that of the mother ship. On opening day, there was porchetta, an Italian recipe of pork loin and herbs roasted in a pork belly, served with roasted leeks (under $10) — Boulud quality. One of Yacubian’s specialties is Korean-style barbecued salmon (with fried brown rice, $13). He promised that the sauce would not be a cloyingly sweet BBQ sauce and it’s not. At first it has a hint of soy sauce and then a tingle sets in. A seasonal dish included fried tomatoes with Maine crab salad, ($13). For now, the latest the café is open is 6 p.m., but Yacubian thinks there is a market for a dinner menu of the kind of rustic-but-urbane cooking he offers. Read full review here.

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What comes out of the 900-degree, wood-fired oven at Trattoria San Giorgio are not just pizzas, says owner Joe Comizio, but Neapolitan pizzas, which is a recognized dish made to exacting standards. They’re far superior to what you get in a cardboard box — thinner, crispier and with more taste. Comizio says he views each one as he if were an artist “painting on a blank canvas.” The restaurant also serves up other Italian favorites: Salad Caprese, minestrone with fresh vegetables, gamberi fra diavolo (large shrimp “hot as hell”), pollo parmigiana (chicken in white wine sauce with melted parmesan cheese). The trattoria has a small but good wine list, and for dessert, torta caprese — a traditional flourless chocolate cake with ground almonds and dusted with confectioners’ sugar — is a winner.

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Millerton, New York

Harney Tea Bar

If you know any Ladies Who Lunch, send them to the Harney Tea Bar, where they will sit side by side with local artists and shopkeepers. There is something genteel but not-at-all fussy about the ambiance and food here, which ranges from fish tacos with chipotle creme fraiche ($10) to a duo or trio of grass-fed beef “sliders” (photo) served with dijon aioli, caramelized onions and celeriac remoulade ($9/$10). The European-style sandwiches and salads are named after members of the far-flung Harney clan and reflect their personalities: The Brigitte ($7) is simply a baguette with prosciutto or ham and French butter; the Mimi ($7), which can be made as a panini, has tomato, mozzarella pesto, and oil & vinegar; the Elyse salad ($9) is a combination roasted red pepper, artichoke hearts, Pecorino Romano, oil and Balsamic vinegar. Chef Lee Morton makes sure every plate (many of which are made by local potter Dana Brandwein) looks too-good-to-eat, while Alex Harney bustles around the dining room and outside tables, making sure everyone feels well cared for. Naturally, there’s an extensive assortment of the family’s famous teas and to accompany them there’s a plate of excellent scones ($3) served with clotted cream and jam.
1 Railroad Plaza, Millerton, NY
(518) 789-2121
Monday - Saturday: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Sunday: 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

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Manna Dew

The other night at Manna Dew, a couple in their twenties played chess at the bar as they sipped Shiraz from oversized goblets, a reflection of this wine bar/restaurant’s hybrid appeal. Manna Dew encourages hanging out (there’s an open mike on Thursdays and live music on Fridays), but it also has serious culinary ambitions with dishes such as truffled mushroom risotto ($19), artichoke crusted salmon ($24), and pan seared duck breast in a pear brandy demi glace ($23). Located in an old Victorian house just a few doors down from The Moviehouse, Manna Dew stays real with a great burger ($11) and a curried tofu vegetable stir fry with coconut basmati rice ($15). No wonder fuzzy faced twenty-somethings and fuzzy-brained sixty-somethings dine here side by side in harmony.

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Taro’s

Taro’s is a pizzeria right next to the rail trail in Millerton, which not only has generous portions but a generous spirit. All of the entrees—eggplant Parmesan ($13.95), chicken rustico ($14.95), veal Florentine ($15.95)—come with soup or salad and a side of pasta as well as a basket of warm bread. My friend the Garden Guru, who eats like a bird, is overwhelmed by the size of the portions so she demurs when offered the soup or salad. But the vivacious waitress tells her, “Then take the soup to go home! You’re already paying for it!” She brings the Garden Guru a plastic container labeled “Minestrone, March 17” so that it is easy to identify in her refrigerator. (The Garden Guru also always orders a side of green vegetables and then takes home half of everything which becomes lunch for the next few days.) My current favorite is the beef-and-sausage lasagna ($13.95) which is too good not to finish, so I, alas, never go home with leftovers. For anyone who grew up going to family-run Italian joints, Taro’s is a restaurant that feels like an old friend, and it’s so old-fashioned that it does not take credit cards—cash only.

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The Oakhurst Diner

The guys who run the Oakhurst Diner—what everyone in town still calls the Millerton Diner—are teases. Since opening quietly a few months ago, they have been handing out a menu with breakfast on one side and lunch & dinner on the other, but they have yet to serve a waffle or an omelette. “We wanted to start things slow and get everything right,” says co-owner John Panzer. They’re doing something right because the diner has been packing them in six nights a week, even without a liquor license that is due soon. The crossover menu is designed to appeal to both the pick-up truck and Range Rover sets—and, yes, that is Ancramdale farmer Jerry Peele eating one of his own grass fed Herondale Farm burgers ($6.99 with homemade fries) at one of the refurbished booths. The late Jill Clayburgh raved about the roasted mushrooms and asparagus with Hollandaise, and Panzer reports that the best-seller on the menu is the prosaic Chicken Dinner ($14.99): half a roast chicken with dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans and cranberry sauce. “It’s all local except the cranberries because nobody does it better than Ocean Spray,” says co-owner Paul Harney. The menu is a tightly focused mix of diner classics like meatloaf ($14.99) and milkshakes ($3.99) and trendy salads such as frisée with bacon and a poached egg ($6.99) and a big bowl of retro-chic iceberg lettuce with cherry tomatoes and chunks of hanger steak accompanied by a bottle of the house vinaigrette ($12.99.) They promise to start serving lunch on August 16, but they are holding off on breakfast until they have both lunch and dinner running like clockwork. —Dan Shaw

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Pawling, NY

Forrest’s Sidestreet Café

Before the most recent wave of trendy food trucks doling out multi-culti tacos or Dutch-sounding ice cream, there were classic canteens like Forest’s Sidestreet Café. Owned and operated by Lynne and Ken Forrest, this unassuming roadside chuck wagon serves up good – and not just “good for a food truck” – solid fare from a friendly lot on Old Route 22. Year-round locals come out for Sabrett dogs and piping-hot seasoned fries. Summer residents take advantage of the truck’s extended Friday evening hours for a juicy burger and tangy homemade lemonade, enjoyed leisurely at powder-blue picnic tables. After 22 years, the Forrests still love cooking together in that galley and it shows. Sip on house-brewed iced tea ($1) while you contemplate your order. Then, go traditional with a hot Italian sausage under caramelized peppers and onions ($4.50) or a grilled chicken sandwich with the works ($4.75). Kids will love the crispy chicken nugget meal ($4) while vegetarians have plenty of delectable options like the fried breaded eggplant sandwich ($4.50) or veggie burger ($4.50). At such great prices, try a bit of everything.–Silka Glanzman

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Pine Plains, New York

After 20 years running the pioneering SoHo bistro Provence, Michel & Patricia Jean finally moved full-time to their weekend house in Dutchess County and purchased the landmark Stissing House, a quintessential New England inn, which just so happens to be in New York State not far from the Taconic Parkway. You can have a romantic dinner à deux in front of a fireplace in one of the smaller dining rooms or join the convivial crowd in the historic tavern. When you order dishes like onion soup ($7), pan-seared duck breast with cherry port reduction ($23) and shell steak that comes with a choice of luscious Béarnaise or pepper-cognac sauces ($28), you can’t imagine anything tasting more authentically French and appropriate to the Hudson Valley.

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Poughkeepsie, New York

Artist’s Palate

If the Artist’s Palate were the bellwether for Poughkeepsie, then you’d expect the downtown to be filling up with boutiques and galleries. But three-and-a-half years after it opened, the Artist’s Palate (photographed by Laura Krier) remains the only serious place to eat in the neighborhood. Chef/owners Charles and Megan Fells are obvioulsy people who have faith in Poughkeepsie’s potential because they have created the sort of urbane, contemporary restaurant that you would expect to find in Portland (Oregon or Maine) but remains an anomaly in this slowly gentrifying city. (And they’re expanding next door to open a venture called Canvas, which will be a wine bar that can be rented out for parties.) The Artist’s Palate is an apt name because everthing about this restaurant feels like it was styled by a high-powered LA art director who was instructed to create a trendy, sophisitcated and lively downtown restaurant with an open kitchen ready for a film crew. The ambitious ever-changing menu is enticingly eclectic: first courses range from smoked Huson Valley trout to roasted marrow bones, and entrees (which all come with a small side salad) include hanger steak served with truffle-dusted fries and fresh grilled fishes. The restaurant looks band-box new because the walls are painted every two months when a new art exhibition is installed. During the week, bare wooden tables gives the Artist’s Palate a casual and boisterous bistro feel, but on weekends, it becomes a candlelit white tablecloth restaurant that is elegant enough for an important celebration. Around the corner from the historic Bardovon Theatre, it’s a superb place to dine after watching an HD broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera or strolling across the new Walkway Over the Hudson. —Dan Shaw

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There’s now delicious incentive to stroll Walkway Over the Hudson: Crave.

Chef-owner Ed Kowalski, a Culinary Institute of America alum, opened this stylish, contemporary American restaurant in December 2009. Located on Washington Street, Crave is directly accessible from the Walkway, thanks to a newly installed stairway adjacent to the restaurant, connecting the pedestrian bridge to street level.

With Kowalski, you get two eateries at one stop. Back in 2005—before Crave—Kowalski opened Lola’s, a catering company and café, in the building next to his present full-blown restaurant. It was the first new business in this transitional neighborhood. Lola’s Cafe, which serves homemade soups, vegetarian salads, sandwiches, wraps and paninis (all under $10), was an instant hit, bringing more traffic into the area. The Walkway has brought even more. “The block is really on the upswing,” says Kowalski.

Last year, when the space next to Lola’s became available, Kowalski was finally able to realize his dream of opening a “romantic, intimate and essentially American” restaurant in Poughkeepsie. Kowalski and his wife Laurie, a co-owner, transformed what had previously been a ramshackle, rowdy college bar into a cozy 32-seat restaurant, done in warm earth tones with soft lighting. You can also dine al fresco on the enclosed 20-seat patio.

Overall, the cooking is done with thought and care. Main dishes are well-executed, if a bit hearty during the summer season. The pan-roasted duck is a signature dish—“we can’t take it off the menu!” said executive chef Williams. Understandably so. The duck, toothsomely tender and pink inside, with perfectly crisped skin, comes with a creamy mash of polenta, topped with foie gras and Swiss chard ($28). While tasty, the wild striped bass, served with a too-crunchy ratatouille of summer squash, artichoke hearts, haricots verts and an overabundance of green and black olives, didn’t quite hang together ($25).

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Red Hook, New York

Daughters Fare & Ale

If you just want to hang out in the beautiful bright space, get a No. Six Depot coffee (out of West Stockbridge), but you’ll be tempted by the Speck sandwich featuring broccoli rabe, ricotta and red onion on an everything baguette. Or you can get Merguez sausage on grilled flatbread with nappa slaw and raita, salmon tartine, or a beautiful chicken salad. The chef’s favorite sandwich is a BLT with Daughters bacon, tomato jam and greens. All of the bread comes from Our Daily Bread in Chatham and they offer gluten-free loaves. On Fridays, Daughters serves burgers and that’s not something you want to miss out on.

Daughters also offers one of the best high-end craft beer selections you’re going to find in the region. The six-beer tap menu is killer and so are the offerings in the takeaway cooler. If you’re a beer aficionado, you may find the following information vitally important: this is the only location where you can buy cans and bottles of Other Half Brewing beer outside of the Brooklyn brewery’s taproom. Read the full review.

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When Flatiron Restaurant in Red Hook opened in August 2008, it was an instant hit, filling a void for red meat lovers in this part of northern Dutchess County. This contemporary steakhouse gives surf and turf a creative twist, by way of USDA Prime-grade steak ($15-$29); a shortlist of burgers (served on a house-made English muffin; $10-$16); sausage ($9); and seafood (from grilled shrimp, to caramelized scallops; $20-$24).

Craig Stafford and his wife, Jessica Stingo, the thirtysomething co-owners, named their restaurant after Manhattan’s Flatiron district, where they first met, while working at Giorgio’s of Gramercy, an eclectic American restaurant.

Stafford, a Culinary Institute of America alumnus, has crafted a well-edited, seasonal and local-leaning menu that offers something for everyone. There is steak, of course: three cuts, including hanger steak (6 or 10 oz.; $15/$19), filet mignon (6 or 10 oz., $18/$28) and a 16 oz. rib-eye ($29)—served with your choice of a half-dozen house-made sauces—plus steak tartare ($12) as an appetizer. But, with non-meat choices that include salads, vegetable sides, a soup, a pasta (such as sweet potato gnocchi, $17) and a vegetarian burger option (roasted eggplant and organic brown rice, $10), vegetarians can feel equally comfortable grazing here.

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Close your eyes: you could be in Italy at this cozy, convivial osteria, magnet for Bard faculty, students, weekenders, locavore foodies and Italianophiles. Chef Francesco Buitoni, a seventh generation member of the Italian pasta-manufacturing family, and his wife, Michele Platt, keeps things casual and inexpensive at Mercato, in keeping with the spirit of a traditional family-run osteria, a place to enjoy good glass of wine (an excellent, all-Italian list, with over a dozen by the glass) and delectable, (Italian) home-style dishes, where you can taste the love. The menu changes weekly, highlighting fresh pastas and seasonal, locally grown produce and meats: Northwind Farms chicken liver bruschetta,with aged balsamic and sage ($7); handmade ravioli filled with Coach Farm ricotta and spinach with brown butter sauce ($13); and whole roasted branzino served with Migliorelli Farm escarole and black beluga lentils ($25). Weekends are always busy, so call in advance to reserve a table. Or, if you’re just two, consider eating at the sleek Carrara marble top bar that has a bird’s eye view of the bustling dining room and open kitchen. —Kathryn Matthews

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Part of what makes Papa’s Best Batch, a smoked meat sandwich trailer, so special is its location: Behind Greig Farm’s big red barn, with a view of the hazy blue Catskills over yellow fields, and shaded under the lazy green branches of two massive weeping willows, sits a cluster of picnic tables and the shiny chrome 1972 Airstream Land Yacht. But the offerings match the compelling scenery. Chef Jody Apap smokes his meats (and more) outside in a quaint, handmade smoker. The bestselling brisket sandwich comes with Asian slaw, Swiss cheese and homemade Russian dressing ($11), but you won’t go wrong with the smoked chicken with peso, roasted peans and sweet red peppers ($9); smoked salmon with cream cheese, capers and red onion (10); and an open face smoked hummus sandwich ($7) made by smoking, then re-rehydrating the chickpeas. And don’t forget the deviled eggs. Only the whites are smoked (lightly) and have a slightly chewy, texture reminiscent of a good smoked cheese. The filling includes homemade mustard, and the combined woodsy flavor is well balanced and refined ($4 for 4). Read the full review at here.

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Rhinebeck, New York

For over a decade, discerning carb lovers in search of artisan breads—French sourdough (levain), whole wheat sourdough (miche), baguettes, challah, peasant bread—have found their way to Bread Alone in Rhinebeck village. There they’ve also found pastries—croissants, danishes, muffins and scones ($2.75 - $3)—all baked fresh daily at the Bread Alone bakery across the river in Boiceville. (There’s a third branch in Woodstock.)

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Cinnamon Indian Cuisine & Bistro

Shiwanti and Chaminda Widyarathna came to Rhinebeck from Sri Lanka, the island we once called Ceylon, located off the southern tip of India proper. This explains why their menu at Cinnamon Indian Cuisine & Bistro offers a generous serving of South Indian specialties, dishes like Lamb Ularthiyathu, simmered in a spicy coconut milk sauce typical of the southern state of Kerala, and the lovely okra based Bandakka Beduma, stir fried with fresh spices typical of Ceylon. Not surprisingly for island inhabitants, Sri Lankans are experts with seafood; this is evident in the many delicious presentations offered here. Three different curries feature halibut — the Chef’s Special Fish Curry ($18.25) is a particularly fine one, redolent with tamarind juice and green chili. There is also sea bass and oodles of shrimp; five different shrimp dishes are listed on the current menu. Cinnamon also offers North Indian specialties, including eight different tandooris, ranging from New Zealand lamb chops to sea bass. The Uttar Kakori Kebab ($18.50) is a delicious kebab of ground lamb and spices grilled in the tandoor. A range of Indian bread ($3.50-$3.95) arrives piping hot from the kitchen — puri, paratha, many types of delicious nan, as well as chapati, the large, whole wheat flatbread that is a staple across the entire subcontinent of India.

Appetizers range from a South Indian take on calamari ($9.00)— exceptionally good and unusually spicy with peppers and onions — to the wonderful veggie Samosa Chat ($6.95), a salad of samosa pieces and chick peas dressed in a scrumptious yogurt dressing. Not to be missed is the Lasuni Gobi ($7.00), a semi-miraculous transformation of cauliflower [shown above]. Vegetarians have many options, either as main courses — Wambatu Moju, an unusual and delicious Sri Lankan eggplant dish made with whole baby eggplant — or among the numerous appetizers and soups. For carnivores, the various lamb curries ($17.00) are highly recommended. These can range from quite hot to not at all; just express your preference. A lunch buffet is served throughout the week, with a special buffet on Sunday nights. Offerings often include seafood and multiple vegetarian options.

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Gigi Trattoria is so lively and chic no one would suspect there’s a dietitian calling the shots. Owner/registered dietitian Laura Pensiero calls the food here “Hudson Valley Mediterranean.” We call it refreshing. Just when you think you know the Italian restaurant repertoire by heart, along comes crispy calamari-and-zucchini ($12.95); braised lamb shank with roasted vegetables and maple pumpkin polenta ($24.95); gnocchi with gorganzola cream and caramelized celery root ($11.50 or $16.50). For those who prefer the tried-and-true, there are thin-crusted “skizzas” (individual flatbread pizzas, $9.75 - $12.50), and an astonishing rib-eye with fries (32 oz serves two, at least, for $39.95). Don’t be put off if the place looks packed. Somehow, they always manage to seat you in a blink.

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Rod Johnson, along with his wife Alicia Lenhart, is the owner of Grand Cru, a popular hybrid bar and retail shop in Rhinebeck that features beer — and plenty of it — along with artisanal cheese, wines by the glass and tasty local snacks. The bar has six taps (Johnson plans to double that in the near future), and almost every day there are changes to at least one of the beers listed. We tried the Chimay Premiere ($11), a very fine — and very rare Stateside — Belgian red, and Victory Brewery’s Summer Love ($6), a light, refreshing blond beer. Friends took advantage of the recent Stone Brewing tap takeover, enjoying the wine-like notes of the Stone Cali-Belgique ($8) and the popular Stone Go-To IPA ($6.50). Don’t skip the cheese plate. There are typically five to choose from (one for $8, two for $12 or three for $16). We sampled the rich, complex Truffle Falls cow’s milk cheese, and the sheep’s milk El Trigal Mantangeo, an excellent, not overly sharp selection. We added charcuterie ($2/$4), so our plate also included macadamia nuts, almonds, dates and bread from Design’s Bakery in Kingston. Grand Cru also sells other tasty vittles, like Deising’s soft pretzels, venison from Highland Farm, snack jars from The Local and Spacey Tracy’s pickles.

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Pizzeria Posto

It takes a certain amount of guts for a restaurant to offer a limited menu, even if it’s a pizzeria. Especially when it’s a pizzeria located in a region that’s nothing if not rich with New York pizza experts. But Pizzeria Posto in Rhinebeck ably brings its culinary confidence to the plate. This is pizza as good as it is in the city. But it’s different, too — more like what you might find on a lucky day in Italy. Owner Patrick Amedeo (who formerly owned Amedeo’s Pizzeria in Lagrangeville) opened his restaurant in the charming but easily missed courtyard off East Market Street. One not-so-secret factor in his success: the authentic Italian wood-fired oven that was shipped from Modena, Italy. The menu offers six 12-inch pizzas ($10-$16) in masterful combinations, such as the sensational Mama Mia, a combination of fennel sausage with wood-fired onions and smoked mozzarella; and the Morandi, with pistachios, red onions, rosemary and Grana Padano (an Italian cheese similar to Parmesan). The salads ($7.50 - $12) are inspired (the Spinaci contains tender spinach with bits of mild goat cheese, bacon, mushrooms and a lovely sherry vinegar dressing) and are served with complimentary fresh bread. There’s a generous wine list and a beer selection with both Italian and American options.

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Terrapin Red Bistro

If you look around the Red Bistro at Terrapin Restaurant, you’ll notice that everyone seems to be having a good time. It’s next to impossible not to enjoy yourself in the expansive bar section of this restaurant that opened in 2003 in the beautifully restored First Baptist Church, which dates to 1825. Chef Josh Kroner‘s menu offers astonishing variety and value. You can build your own sandwiches—hamburgers, sliced steak, ahi tuna salad, veggie burger etc. ($6.95 - $10.95) with your choice of toppings and rolls—or you can select from a wide variety of salads, quesadillas and pastas. If you feel overwhelmed by the options, the tapas plates($3 - $4) are the way to go. On a recent visit, we thoroughly enjoyed Thai meaballs in green curry, duck quesadilla, macadamia-nut tempura calamari, and crispy artichokes, which we washed down with excellent margaritas. And our cheerful waitress thoughtfully had our single order of fish tacos divided onto two plates in the kitchen. Terrapin is one of those reliable restaurants where the ambitious chef never forgets that the ultimate mark of good cooking is making people happy. —Dan Shaw

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Who wouldn’t want a neighboorhood restaurant this good? Chef/owner Wes Dier buys his ingredients from as many local farms and purveyors as possible, but the primary reason he named his new restaurant The Local was because he wanted it to be a neighborhood hangout. Nevertheless, The Local is a restaurant worth going out of your way to visit because it marries sophisticated cooking in a laid-back, friendly setting. The eclectic menu offers choices ranging from Hudson Valley foie gras ($20) and Stone Church Farm duck ($26) to a Cuban-style crepe ($15) made with Meiller’s Farm pork belly and extraordinary sliders ($14) made with Sepascot Home Farm grass-fed beef. With an open kitchen just inside the front door, you can watch your dinner being prepared, and if there’s a wait (we advise making reservations) there’s a bartender who knows how to mix extraordinary cocktails such as a Pink Salty Dog. —Dan Shaw

38 West Market Street, Rhinebeck; 845.876.2214

Dinner: Tuesday - Saturday 5:30 - 10 p.m.

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The Shelter

Billing itself as “an underground wine bar,” The Shelter lies subterranean, its entrance tucked in the old Rhinebeck Hardware Company building between FACE Stockholm and Bumble & Hive. It’s run by Wesley and Bryn Dier, the husband-and-wife team behind The Local, another popular Rhinebeck spot that shares The Shelter’s neighborhood feel and its attention to first-rate cooking and hospitality. At this venture, they serve up tapas-style plates and excellent drinks to patrons enjoying the elegant, unpretentious vibe. Seat yourself on a couch or one of the larger high-top tables dotted around the room. Order one of their “Lucky 13” cocktails, like the Savage Detective made with Del Maguey ‘Vida’ Mezcal, lemon, absinthe and grapefruit bitters ($12). Although The Local has an entirely domestic wine menu, here the Diers have opted for Spanish wines to complement their menu. The specials menu on a recent evening included a Camembert cheese from the Old Chatham Sheepherding Company, rich and buttery, served with truffle honey and perfectly ripened D’anjou pear slices ($8). Some nights might offer individual mini paellas [shown here] or roasted peppers. From the regular menu, a small plate of marinated shitake mushrooms in a 20-year aged sherry vinaigrette with shallot crispies ($6) packed a tart bite and served as a good pairing to The Shelter’s aged meats, clearly important enough on the menu to warrant a meat slicer in the middle of the workspace. There’s a house-made chorizo and a paprika-cured pork tenderloin (each $10). Other dishes elevate the familiar, like deviled eggs made more devilish with wasabi tobikko — flying fish roe — and sriracha ($6). The lovely house-churned saffron ice cream ($6) was creamy and sweet and the prickly pear sorbet ($6) was refreshing after the evening’s rich offerings. Befitting a neighborhood hangout, weekly promos include $3 drafts on Wednesdays before 8, “Sheltered Sangria” ($8 glass; $18 carafe) on Fridays, $1 Blue Point oysters on Saturdays, and live music during the weekends and some weeknights.

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Salt Point, New York

La Puerta Azul

If you’re one of those people who disdain dining in strip malls, La Puerta Azul (less than a mile from the Taconic Parkway’s Route 44/Millbrook exit) will radically change your outlook. The colorful, professionally decorated interior with its locally-wrought iron chandeliers is so exuberant that you feel like you’re at a party even on a quiet weekday night. Of course, the generous, classic margarita ($8) made with fresh lime juice helps and so do the warm chips and piquante salsa that has the texture of tapenade. The dining room’s stylishness is matched by the kitchen’s: Ceviche ($10) is served in an oversized martini glass with a sauce of roasted tomatoes and citrus juices; a hearty appetizer of beef empanadas ($7) is presented on a square plate with squiggles of chipolte sauce as if it were nouvelle cuisine; the perfectly grilled organic chicken breast ($18) comes with a mellow mole sauce on the side and heavenly sweet corn rice that has been mounded to resemble a Mayan temple. The symbolism is apt because La Puerta Azul’s food is divine.

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Tivoli, New York

It’s exciting to find a chef who not only appreciates black pig but also knows how to make the most of it. While the menu here reflects the Catalan origins of the family of chef/owner Rei Peraza, it is an original presentation of dishes not usually seen in restaurants, Spanish or otherwise. Their execution is virtually flawless, and the personable staff is attentive and well educated about what is on offer. Start with a tapas: migas (1-year-old Ozark ham, mushrooms cheddar, poached egg, red eye gravy vinaigrette), or heritage pig belly (sherry-cherry molasses glaze), or a citrus-garlic braised pork with red cabbage slaw, or jamon Serrano (dry cured 9 months, Spain). Alternatively, there’s a creamy eggplant-garlic soup with roasted lemon and crème fraiche, or a “snack” of crisp pig ears with saffron yoghurt, or, from the charcuterie, lomo iberico, 100% acorn-fed Iberian pig loin that is about the tenderest, most melt-in-your-mouth morsel you can imagine. While chef Peraza does homage to locavore tastes when possible, he quite rightly turns to Spain for many of his ham and other pork products. For those not inclined toward pork or other exotica, the menu offers wild striped bass, New York Strip steak, and roasted Amish chicken. Even these are seasoned and garnished in highly original and tasty ways. —Peter Davies

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Traghaven is seemingly pulled from another time and place. It’s beautiful in a way pubs can be and the care that owner Gerard Hurley puts into the atmosphere, food and drinks make it feel like a community pub in the truest sense. “It’s the essential West Cork pub experience,” says Hurley, who hails from Ireland’s largest county. A regular haunt for locals, travelers and of-age Bard students, the pub’s new draw is the excellent food, prepared by Chef Christopher Murphy. The bar menu is straightforward but elevated by great local ingredients. There’s an Irish Burger with Dubliner cheese and stout onions ($15), and the Pig Candy Burger with thick-cut bacon, fried onions and BBQ sauce ($15), but there are also vegetarian options and less ordinary sides like a balsamic marinated portobello sandwich with arugula pesto and sundried tomatoes ($13), and roasted Brussels sprouts with pecans and capers. There are also well-executed pub mains like a half roast chicken ($16) and steak frites ($20). Hurley has a few head of cattle on his small homestead farm nearby and all the beef served at the pub is from his herd (really). This is a whiskey pub and Hurley says he has the biggest selection of Irish whiskey in the United States: there are 70 options behind the bar.

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Litchfield County

Bantam, CT

Partners in business and life, George Malkemus and Anthony Yurgaitis of Manolo Blahnik shoes fame bought a farm near their home in Litchfield, Conn. Over the course of the next decade, the dairy and vat-pasteurized milk business prospered, in 2012 expanding into a creamery and retail space housed in the Bantam firehouse. Apparently the stylish team likes to keep busy, and a restaurant and wine bar opened the following year, located next to what once was the Village General Store. Chef Dan Magill inventively showcases both produce and protein, and brilliantly utilizes the incredible resource that is Arethusa’s dairy goods. Milk products pop up frequently and in the most delectable of ways, starting with a bite-sized cheese curd arancini as amuse bouche and an appetizer special of thin flatbread with truffled ricotta and farm cheese, foraged mushrooms and caramelized onions, a wonder of flavors. Other “Beginnings” of note are local squash blossoms in a delicate tempura crust and filled with romesco and farmer’s cheese. Served with ratatouille, basil aioli and tomato jam ($16), a salad is something we recommend you do not forego here. For those looking for a bit more heft, a long-running favorite is the quartet of Arethusa Farm deviled eggs incorporating surprising complements such as foie gras, smoked potato-bacon and jumbo lump crab. Mains include dishes such as braised artichoke filled with matignon and foraged mushrooms ($17) and Pekin – no g – duck breast with farro ($32) and the pan-seared diver scallops with broccoli, bacon, almonds, sultanas and verjus nage. Pastry Chef James Arena keeps you in a party mood with decadent treats like peaches ‘n’ cream tres leche and a chocolate tasting of a mocha hazelnut brownie “ice cream bar,” malted milk chocolate Luxardo cherry trifle and a warm chocolate beignet with Valhona chocolate sauce, all priced at $12. Read full review here.
828 Bantam Road, Bantam, CT
(860) 567-0043
Brunch
Saturday and Sunday 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
Dinner
Wednesday and Thursday 5:30-9 p.m.
Friday and Saturday 5:30-10 p.m.
Sunday 5-8:30 p.m.

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Mockingbird Kitchen and Bar

While the contemporary interior is quite a departure from its original home in the Captain William Bull Tavern, the Mockingbird Kitchen & Bar suffers not for the change. Owner/Chef Tilley’s “locally sourced, globally flavored” cuisine remains the real draw. Pairing far-flung influences with seasonal and locally sourced ingredients, her dishes are creative yet approachable. Miso glazed salmon and a tofu curry spiked with lemongrass honors treasured travels while a rich confit de poulet or bright beet salad highlights the bounty found in our part of New England.

This carries through to the desserts and brunch menus. I’ve happily devoured a chocolate bread pudding and dug into my dinner companion’s carrot cake served with ginger ice cream. Brunch is no less decadent, with a beautifully presented, fluffy French toast with berries or spicy huevos rancheros on offer. If you’re looking for fare on the lighter side, Asian dumplings might fit the bill or perhaps a plate of oysters. Read the full review.

810 Bantam Road, Bantam, CT
(860) 361-6730
Closed Monday & Tuesday

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Canaan, CT

Blackberry River Baking Co.

Audrey and Sam Leary left Brooklyn last summer to take over the bakery across from the Stop & Shop on Route 44 in Canaan, CT. Initially named the Black Forest Bakery, they renamed it Blackberry River Baking Company. Locals soon began buzzing about the Parisian-style macaroons, the dense teacakes, the croissants and the crusty loaves or rye and peasant breads. The buzz became a roar when they started revamping the menu, adding dishes like chunky corned beef hash ($7.50) and “green eggs with ham,” in which eggs are scrambled with house-made spinach pesto and specials like Italian Eggs Benedict with prosciutto and pesto Hollandaise, shown here ($9.50). All the dishes are served with yeasty toast and addictive home fries. Vegetarians can find happiness here, too: Audrey allows that she borrowed the idea for the “red flannel hash” ($7.50) — beets, potatoes and goat cheese served with eggs — from a cafe in Brooklyn. “People have really responded to the new menu,” says Audrey, whose repertoire ranges from pumpkin pancakes and cinnamon apple French toast to quiche and croque madame served with a fresh side salad of baby arugula.

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Falls Village, Connecticut

Reopened after being dark for four years (and after a disastrous incarnation as a German restaurant), the Falls Village Inn is the quintessential small-town New England tavern where former Wall Street honchos and volunteer firemen dine happily side by side. Owners Colin Chambers and Susan Sweetapple have made accessibility their motto so guests can choose between a conventional burger ($10) or the Whippoorwill Farm grass-fed burger ($15) Designed in a cozy un-designed way by weekend neighbor Bunny Williams (one of the rock stars of the New York decorating world), the inn has a menu that features classic comfort food: Chicken Wings ($10), Shepherd’s Pie ($17), Chicken Pot Pie ($15). On a recent Sunday, the lunch specials included chef Jose Lalvay’s fish tacos ($12) and more than one guest requested it be made a menu staple. For dessert, there is cake from Jason Young’s Sweet William’s Bakery, which started out around the corner in Falls Village before moving to Salisbury. And the bar is so convivial that you won’t mind hanging out there if you have to wait for a table. —Dan Shaw

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Toymakers Cafe

If you want a taste of small town life, try quirky Toymakers Cafe in Falls Village, the second smallest town in Connecticut with just 1,200 residents. There are two communal tables, so you are likely to meet the locals while sipping a creamy latte and savoring the sweet potato waffle, the justifiably famous house specialty, Leather-clad bikers have made this their Sunday brunch pit-stop so come early or late unless you want to join a conversation about Harleys.

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Lakeville, Connecticut

The food at theBoathouse may not make you swoon, but the restaurant will warm your heart. With two fireplaces and a lively bar dominated by a knockout mural of a traditional lakeside boathouse, the restaurant naturally attracts students (who look like Abercrombie models) and their parents from the nearby Hotchkiss and Salisbury boarding schools. In the handsome main dining room where two vintage wooden canoes hang from ceiling, locals and out-of-towners tuck into hearty fare: burgers ($12), ribs ($16 or $20), horseradish encrusted salmon ($22), cioppino ($28). The Boathouse also has the preppiest sushi bar around, and on a recent evening, many of the student diners were eating big platters of raw fish. As an homage to the clientele, several rolls are named after local private schools such as the Berkshire (avocado, cream cheese, smelt roe & smoked salmon, $7.50), the Millbrook (unagi & avocado, $7.50), and the IMS (yellowtail & scallions, $7.50). —Dan Shaw

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Woodland

This quintessential neighborhood restaurant can be hard to find, which suits its loyal clientele just fine. Theoretically, you could dine here contentedly six nights a week (it’s dark on Mondays) because the menu is extensive so there is always something you’re in the mood for: arugula-and-goat-cheese salad with crispy lardons, delicate sole almondine, and a steak sandwich served with a mound of spinach and crispy fries. And there’s sushi, too! It’s no wonder Woodland is always packed (even during snowstorms) because no place is as reliably welcoming or consistently delicious.192 Sharon Road (Route 41); 860-435-0578
Lunch: Tuesday - Saturday 11:30 - 2:30
Dinner: Tuesday - Thursday 5 -9; Friday - Saturday 5 - 10; Sunday 4 - 8:30

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Litchfield, Connecticut

Since 1990, the West Street Grill, the beloved eminence grise of the Litchfield green, has married the classical with the experimental, sophistication with simplicity, city with country. Co-owners James O’Shea and Charles Kafferman apply the discipline of the French tradition to a truly American cuisine, while O’Shea’s Gaelic sense of hospitality extends to regulars, including a raft of celebrities, and newcomers alike. Chef Jimmy Cosgriff’s considerable powers of invention are very much in evidence in the perpetually changing menu. Starters might include a “creamy” soup that contains not so much as a drop of cream or butter, accompanied by a decidedly non-vegan parmesan aioli grilled peasant bread that the West Street Grill has been serving since it opened. A main course might consist of fresh wild striped bass with baby patty pan squash, local corn, roasted tomatoes, all in an aromatic fennel broth or delicious braised short ribs with a gratin of sweet potatoes in a filo crust. For dessert, there is a choice of vegan sorbets, a citrusy lime tart, or a classic over-the-top Irish banoffee pie—toffee, banana and shaved bittersweet chocolate.
It’s no exaggeration to say that if the West Street Grill hadn’t existed, the citizens of Litchfield County would have had to invent it. A score of years after its founding, as other restaurants have come and gone, it has endured, evolved, prevailed. —Angeline Goreau

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Norfolk, Connecticut

Infinity Hall Bistro

Now you can really make it a night on the town when you attend a concert at the exquisitely renovated Infinity Hall in Norfolk (just over the border from Southfield, MA). On May 1, Infinity Hall Bistro opened an ambitious one-size-fits-all restaurant where you can get everything from an edamame burger with harissa aioli ($8) or a buttery lobster roll ($16) to grilled salmon with pomegranate mustard ($22) and filet mignon with onion rings ($28). You can’t go wrong with the perfectly cooked grass-fed burger from Whippoorwill Farm ($9) on a sturdy sweet roll with a choice of sides including crisp, drive-in style fries. The drinks menu is meant for partying: There are cucumber, chocolate and espresso martinis ($9) and Infinity Cocktails ($8) such as “I’m Jazzed” (Absolut, Peachtree Schnapps, Midori and pineapple juice) and “Folk Fest” (Absolut Pears, fresh lime juice, Cointreau, sour mix and ginger ale.) The dining has been decorated with jazzy colors, comfortable chairs, and stunning framed black-and-white photographs of rock-and-roll’s pioneers from the 1960s and 1970s, which gives Infinity Hall a sense of being part of pop-music history. And even on a Tuesday night when there was no concert upstairs, this joint was jumping.

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Salisbury, Connecticut

Country Bistro

To say the Country Bistro is unpretentious is not a euphemism. Jaqueline Heriteau and her daughter Holly Hunter-Stonehill are expert cooks and published authors. But when they decided to open a breakfast-and-lunch spot behind the Salisbury Post Office they wanted it to be the sort of everyday place where locals could come all the time. And they have a loyal cadre of regulars because for $7.95 you can get a cup of homemade soup (Heriteau wrote A Feast of Soups which has 500 recipes so she’s never at a loss for soup specials) a generous half a sandwich (a thick BLT or classic Reuben) arranged stylishly on an oblong white platter with lightly dressed greens and potato chips. What’s more, in warm weather you have your choice of two outdoor patios with umbrella tables (and WiFi!) and waitresses who treat you like a regular even if you’re a newcomer.

10 Academy Street; 860.435.9420
Daily: 8 AM - 5:30 PM

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Sharon, Connecticut

Caro Caffe

Caro Bonci, the culinary force behind the late, lamented Café Lally in West Corwall, has a simple philosophy: “… Food should taste good,” she says. “I use as much organic produce as I can, and as much locally sourced produce as I can, but the bottom line is, does it taste good?” At Caro Caffe, a tiny, Tuscan-style treasure, her fresh-made, locally sourced, authentic Italian country fare, including splendid artisanal pizzas, has quickly earned a fervent local following. The compact, open kitchen is equipped with a convection oven for bread, pastries, and focaccia; Bonci also turns out delectable dishes such as lentil salad with fiddleheads, sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and feta; a choice of tomato feta, pear gorgonzola, or roasted tomato and gorgonzola focaccia; and mini apple pies that go perfectly with cappuccino. Pizzas include a traditional, meltingly perfect Margherita ($12), generously festooned with fresh basil, or any number of other creative vegetarian combinations, such as asparagus with chevre, roasted garlic, pine nuts, and mozzarella or sage and red onions with pumpkin seeds, parmesan, and mozzarella (up to $14). The whole-wheat crust (a gluten-free version is also available) is thin andcrispy enough to be eaten neatly in a car or on a picnic; it will nicely survive the journey home for a quick reheating. Prices range from $4 for a loaf of pane paesanella, to $6 and up for salads and focaccia, and up to $14 for the caffe’s artisanal pizzas. Tarts and other desserts, all homemade and delicious, average $3 to $6. You can also pick up a bottle of Bonci’s own salad dressings, ginger/garlic/soy or balsamic vinaigrette, for $6. Bonci opens early enough in the morning so you can grab a pastry and a cappuccino; at noon she begins making pizza to order. She stays open until 6 or 7 p.m., though pizza may not be available during her afternoon break, usually around 3 p.m. You can also phone in your orders ahead of time.

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Washington, CT

Community Table doesn’t have a bar to wait to being seated. But you will be rewarded for staying put with chef Joel Viehland’s luscious locavore cuisine, which is based on ingredients from more than 30 local farms and purveyors. The menu is an intriguing mixture of tweaked-out comfort food— such as beef and barley borscht ($7), rabbit with celery root puree and caramelized carrots ($23), spaghetti with merguez sausage, tomatoes, eggplant, preserved lemon, cured olives and goat’s milk pecorino ($21)—and more audacious dishes like pickled vegetables in a warm, bone-marrow vinaigrette ($9) and a skate wing served with quinona, walnuts, sunflower seeds, roasted beets, cauliflower, mustard greens and apple vinegar citrus brown butter sauce ($24). Highly-principled, highly-styled but down-to-earth, Community Table is one of those restaurants that boldly prints its mission statement on the first page of the menu—“to prepare the highest quality locally grown and procured ingredients and to serve our community in a casual, vibrant atmosphere”—and then follows through magnificently but humbly. —Dan Shaw